I didn't trip on my cloak
by Maahiyum
Summary: I didn't trip on my cloak, I fell for you." ...I didn't hit him that hard, did I? Deidara gets it in his head to stalk his muse for inspiration. When she confronts him, things get crazy, but when Tobi gets involved, they get even crazier! DEI X SAKU crack
1. Chapter 1

**hehehe...I wanted to get this out of my system. I really wanted to use a variation of a muslim pick-up line I read online "I didn't trip on my robe, I fell for you."**

**so yeah...DeiSaku Crack**

**I don't know if I'll continue, but it just sounds fun. At the moment, I'm focusing more on Morbid Curiosity, a HidanSakura Crack Fic...**

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_flashbacks_

**Inner Sakura _Inner Sakura_**

Present time and actions

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"Hah! I thought Akatsuki were better then that! You tripped on your own cloak!" Sakura laughed spitefully as she stared at the madly grinning Akatsuki member sprawled before her. He got up and briskly brushed himself off before giving her an affectionate smile. 

"I didn't trip on my cloak, I fell for you." He replied smoothly in a deep, rich voice.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now, why don't you just turn around and leave me alone? Or do you really want me to leave you alone in pieces?" Sakura took a step back over the uneven ground as he advanced with an extending hand to kneel before her with his head bowed.

"Your beauty infinitely changes." He looked up determinedly and clasped her hand before she could jump back.

"The memory of each moment of such fleeting beauty is the truest form of art." He kissed the top of her hand, never breaking eye contact. Blue stared into green. Green eyes widened and the pale face they were set in suddenly flushed pink.

"I am an artist and you are my muse, un." He said, dropping her hand and grinning up at her as she stared at him dumbfounded as she flashed back to her latest actions.

_The blond Akatsuki member and pink haired kunoichi faced off in the middle of a forest clearing. He floated above her on his CPV (Chakra-Powered Vehicle) that was sculpted to resemble some sort of avian. She was a close range fighter and did the best she could with the long-range specialist.. She tried to hit him , but he managed to dodge all ground attacks and retaliate efficiently with bombs from the air above her. Growling in frustration, she jumped over to the best looking tree for her needs. Wrapping her arms around its trunk, she heaved. Once unearthed, she swung the more-than-150 meter tall tree blindly in the air as if it were some giant fly swatter and the Akatsuki on his CPV, the fly. Two seconds later, she heard a thunk but didn't pay attention or let up on her wild swinging until she herself got tired out. Putting the tree down, she gasped for breath and leaned against the trunk._

_Surveying the damage, there were leaves and broken branches everywhere and among them she saw a pile of leaves and clay stand up. As the figure moved its limbs, the leaves and clay residue fell off to reveal the still living-and-breathing Akatsuki member. __**Oh great, he can still move.**_

_The enemy was too busy picking leaves and clay out of his long, blond hair to notice her until she jumped to stand on the rocks right in front of him with one hand on her hip and the other formed into her signature fist, ready to punch his lights out. Seeing this threat to his physical being, he jumped back quicker then she thought he could as he reached into his cloak to bring forth a weapon or more clay, no doubt._

_The only thing was, as soon as he landed a safe distance away, he stilled and stared . His hand still remained in his cloak but he slowly drew it out empty. All of a sudden he was advancing on her sooner then expected, especially without a weapon drawn. He stopped about ten feet short of her and reached up to his face to remove the metal scope covering his left eye. Sakura had no idea what he was doing, but he stood like that and studied her for a few moments before taking a step forward and tripping on his own cloak. The idea of an Akatsuki member tripping on his own cloak was amusing enough, but to actually see it happen before you…well, that was something else because it caused Inner-Sakura to blurt out whatever she had just thought. _(back in the beginning of the story)

**Oh yeah…did I seriously hit him that hard?**

"I'm Deidara, by the way, and I'm not leaving you alone. Not until I create my masterpiece, un. So who are you?"

"W-What!?! No! Go away before I make you!" Sakura was not amused as she scrambled back.

"You know you're not going to do that if I don't attack you. And don't worry, I'm not going to. Why would I harm my muse?" Deidara had taken a step back from her so she would stop squirming.

"I am NOT your muse! And I will hurt you!" Sakura knew she was fibbing but this crazy Akatsuki had to go. Deidara looked at her skeptically as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"No. I can tell just by looking at you, un. You only fight back when you have to. You'd rather heal people then hurt them."

Two hours later.

Sakura was walking on a thin dirt road that lead to a small village on the way to Konohagakure. She was planning to stop there for the night to rest and possibly get the tall, blond, man who shadowed her impeccably to stop following her around. **I can't believe he's still here. I have to get rid of him.**

"So, my little pink-haired muse. You still haven't told me your name, un. How are you going to inspire me if I don't know what to call you?" The hairs on the back of Sakura's neck curled as she inwardly cringed, hating herself for being too decent of a person to attack him if since he wasn't doing anything to her.

"Sakura. My name is Sakura. And. I. Am. NOT. Your. MUSE!" She bit out through gritted teeth. She heard a soft sigh as a hand patted her shoulder reassuringly, she looked up in surprise because she thought he was a few feet behind her, not next to her. Her look also showed disgust at being touched by him. Especially his hands. So casually.

"Someday, you'll realize that you are my muse and when that day comes, we'll make the greatest masterpiece ever. I'll stick around until then."


	2. Chapter 2

**so those that are waiting for Morbid Curiosity , I hope you understand that I can't turn in incomplete chapters for that, which is why I'm updating this.**

**Writing this little story helps me play around with my writing. I'm not very serious about it, it's more of a 'sketchpad' but I may come back and rewrite it all if I feel like it's worth it.**

**The chapters are short and incomplete. I update in small bursts, but if there are a lot of people who like this, I may focus on it more.**

**READ**

**REVIEW and TELL me what you think :)**

**writing fluff is not my forte so sorry if this turns serious or there's not enough action yet**

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_Thoughts_

**_Inner Sakura's thoughts_**

Present actions

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Sakura groaned and slapped his hand away from her shoulder. She really didn't want to know just _what_ kind of _masterpiece_ he had in mind. Hopefully not the exploding kind, but there wasn't much chance of that happening. She just wished he'd go away.

"Just so you know, I'm not going to talk about your name, un. It really means nothing to me." Deidara stated with his hands behind head as he casually walked beside his so-called 'muse'.

"_YOU_ mean nothing to me, so get lost!" Sakura snapped as she sped up to leave him behind once more. Deidara watched her figure grow smaller and smaller but never let it out of his sight. Once she slowed down, he simply caught up to her and waited, mentally counting down to what he knew would happen next. _3…2…1…_

"If what you said is true, then why did you even bother to ask?" Sakura questioned, throwing him a glance from the corner of her eye. Deidara smirked, he knew curiosity would get the better of her.

"Because, if I kept calling you 'muse' then everybody else would simply know you as a 'muse' and then you wouldn't be _my_ muse, un. You'd be everybody else's. I needed to know what to call you for everyone else's sake, yeah."

Sakura bristled at the idea of being under any kind of ownership. She was a free woman! A kunoichi! Not an object! Although another part of her, the instinctual part, noticed something else. _**He's possessive, isn't he?**_

"I already told you! I'm _not_ _your_ muse!" she shouted to the road in front of her because she refused to look at the stalking blonde or even acknowledge his existence.

"So you've been somebody else's muse already?" Deidara looked at her concerned.

"NO! I've been nobody's muse!"

"But now you're not denying that you are one, yeah. I guess that's a start."

Sakura's eyes bugged out at the man's stubborn insistence circular logic. She massaged her temples in frustration to ease the rising headache because arguing with him was going to get her nowhere. Her predicament was so unthinkable, so unimaginable, she just wanted to pull her hair out, or better yet, pull _his_ hair out and shred him to pieces. Why in the world did she have to end up having an Akatsuki Stalker? She was about to beat him up and leave him for the dead while he was getting ready to blast her into nothingness, but now, somehow, _this_ had come forth. Was this karma? Was this her punishment for being mean to Naruto when they were young? Or was this fate that blonds always attached themselves to her in some way, shape or form? First, it was Ino, her best friend and rival. Next, it was Naruto, her unpredictable teammate and self-assigned responsibility. And now, it was this Akatsuki member who had tried to capture Naruto, had killed Gaara once, and had recently been trying to do the same to her.

She seriously had to find a way to drop him before she got back to Konoha. Who knows what would happen if he followed her there. Of course, he'd be captured, but then he'd be in his cell and probably pine for her the entire time. Then her friends would laugh at her and tell her she should go see how many other Akatsuki members she could drag home because it'd be easier to stop them this way. Better yet, Tsunade would likely approve of the idea and come up with a plan saying that it is a kunoichi's duty to use her amenities for a mission to be successful. NO. There was NO WAY she would let _that_ happen.

For the rest of the journey to the small, side village, Sakura pretended that Deidara wasn't there. He walked beside her and studied her face. She tried to ignore his blatant staring, but he wouldn't stop. Even when she would turn and stare back, he would simply give her a crooked grin that would cause her to turn away, madly trying to suppress her blush. Neither of them spoke.

Deidara was going to go along with whatever would happen. He didn't have any plans. There was only the slightest niggling in the back of his mind that told him he was a member of Akatsuki and he was walking next to the Kyuubi's friend. The one that had beaten his previous partner, Sasori. Speaking of which, didn't he have a new one? What happened to that Tobi kid? Deidara stopped staring at his muse and glanced over his shoulder to see if Tobi was somehow following him.

While Deidara removed his eyes from her to search for his missing partner, Sakura could finally think and breathe properly. His incessant observing of her was somewhat freaking her out and clouding her thoughts. She wasn't used to being looked at so carefully. Most of the time, she'd be observed by Kakashi Sensei or other shinobi who helped train her. They'd be looking for faults in her form or openings in her guard. So what was _he_ looking for?

Sakura shook her a little to forget about that, because regardless of what _he_ wanted, she had to get rid of him, and right now, she could come up with a plan.

_Ok, so he says he going to follow me everywhere. Oh, god, he's staring at me again. _

_**Pay no attention to it.**_

_When I go into town, I'll have to find a room to spend the night in._

_**Right. He'll probably follow you in.**_

_Yeah…so maybe I can trick him. But how?_

_**I don't know. First observe him. He thinks he already has us figured out.**_

_What's there to observe? He's blond, he's unpredictable, he's stalking me, he sounds a lot like another certain shinobi that we all know in Konoha. Oh, an he's Akatsuki._

_**No, you're not looking hard enough. Anybody can see all those things. A shinobi has to see what's underneath the underneath.**_

Sakura shifted her gaze over to Deidara again, they made eye contact and he grinned. For some reason, whenever one person smiles at another, the smile becomes infectious, and the other one smiles back. It's a characteristic of human nature that very few are able to suppress. Unfortunately, Sakura was now used to his constant presence and the training she had to keep her expressions at bay, faded. She gave a small, uncertain smile, too. Immediately, Deidara's grin disappeared and he studied her suspiciously.

"Why are you smiling, un?" he inquired. Sakura's small smile turned into a tight frown.

"I was hoping you'd get inspired and hurry up with you masterpiece. That way you'd be out of my hair faster." She retorted automatically.

_What!? What am I doing? Why the heck did I say that?!_

_**Actually…that may just work.**_

_NO WAY. That is the last thing I'd do. I'm not that desperate yet._

_**Ok…but did you notice something?**_

_What?_

_**He doesn't trust us. If we do anything different, he gets suspicious.**_

_Yeah…he doesn't. Maybe if we scare him, he'll leave us alone?_

_**No. But this may help in tricking him.**_

_Meaning, we earn his trust and then when he lets his guard down-_

_**We ditch him!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: hehehe...I suddenly had a burst of inspiration and I felt like continuing this story :D**

**I guess its not as fluffy as fluff is supposed to be, but hey, it'll do in my opinion, unfortunately my opinion doesn't matter as much as yours.**

**SO REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW please?**

**It's a long long chapter and I worked hard on it**

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Right away, Sakura began putting the first part of her plan into action: Make Pleasant Conversation.

They walked on the dirt road in silence. As shinobi neither their breathing nor their footsteps made a noise. They were walking on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere on their way to a small town. You'd expect them to be a little more noisy. But no. The silence was, in fact, so strong that the wind in the distant trees could be heard as it blew through the braches.

**Converse! Now! The quicker, the better! **

_Ok, ok…_

"I still want you to go away, but if you're going to be around me, at least say something." **Smooth, Sakura, real smooth. That's not what 'Pleasant Conversation' means.** Deidara stopped walking and looked at her slightly stunned. Sakura stopped, too.

"So you don't mind that I follow my muse, un?"

"I don't mind as long as your muse is not me." Sakura deadpanned and mentally beat herself up. **Be nice!** _I'm trying!_

Deidara frowned at her response,

"Why can't you just accept the fact that you are my inspiration, un?" _**OMG! **_**I**_** inspire him?!**__**What's so special about me?**__ Focus! __**Right!**_

"I don't believe it, that's all."

"And why is that, yeah?" Sakura's mouth turned into a hard line. She didn't want to get into telling him too much about herself. The point of talking to him was to get to know _him. _There was no way that she would tell him how to her, the entire idea was laughable. Never in a million years would she believe somebody the first time they told her that she 'inspired' them.

"Alright, fine! If I'm such an inspiration, then why haven't made any art?"

"Oh…well…" Deidara's pause caused her to glance at him. He smiles at her sheepishly as he scratched his head, "you see, un, you haven't exactly inspired me _yet_-"

"What!-" Deidara put his hands up to stop her from continuing,

"Hold on! Let me finish talking! Okay, so you haven't inspired me yet, but I know deep down that you will. Call it a gut feeling, yeah."

"Maybe we can get you some antacids in the next town so that feeling in your gut goes away." Deidara glared at her a little. It wasn't one of those I'm-going-to-blow-you-up glares, it was more of a reprove at her snide comment.

"Make fun of me all you want, yeah, but this is an artist's instinct."

"Can't your 'instincts' be wrong?"

"No."

"Oh, really? Then why did you come and fight me? You totally lost the battle so whatever instincts that told you to fight were obviously wrong."

"I didn't lose! Besides, that was only fate, yeah. That was MEANT to happen." The man's logic was something else to Sakura. It was starting to get fun to annoy him.

"Whatever I guess. I really like fate if you were MEANT to get squashed like a bug." Sakura snickered but then a thought occurred to her and she looked at him a little concerned and a little bewildered.

"I didn't hit you that hard, did I? If there are any bumps or pain in your head, then let me see. You have to be a little off-your-rocker if you're saying stuff like this." Sakura reached a hand towards Deidara's head but he took a step back out of her reach.

"NO, I'm not crazy, yeah! I'm perfectly sane! If other people have never appreciated you the way I do, then they're the ones that need to get checked, yeah!" Sakura reeled her arms back slightly stunned at his statement. She quickly turned to stare diligently at the dirt by her feet because she knew a blush was creeping across her face. She HAD to change subjects, and fast! He had to stop saying things like that!

"uh…okay…so why aren't you _inspired_ by me yet?" Sakura was still staring at the ground as she asked this, but the rosy tint of her cheeks did not escape Deidara's notice. He smirked a little bit to himself. He like to see her blush. If he could make her do that just by saying things, he'd have to start talking more.

"I don't know, un. Haven't you ever been inspired by anything before? Inspiration is like a spark. It only lasts a few seconds and you never know when it's going to happen. Besides," Deidara leaned in closer to her. His voice was low and husky as he spoke into her ear, "you inspired me for the first time, when I saw you right after I got that clay off my face. I really did want to make something, right then and there. I'm still waiting for the second time to come." Sakura blushed once more because that was the closest he'd ever been to her and his voice caused her stomach to flutter. When she spoke next, her voice was slightly shaky,

"Th-Then w-why didn't you make something?" Deidara grinned at her stupid question. It seems like he was finally getting to her.

"Did you forget that you were attacking me, un?"

"O-oh…hehe" From the tone of her voice, it may have sounded like Sakura was about to apologize for that but then the smart part of her brain held her back.

**Hell no! You have no reason to apologize! He was your enemy!**

_He still is…_

**Oh, yeah…that's what I meant.**

It was quiet after that. Neither of them knew what to say next. Deidara could only guess what was going through her head. He knew that she was a shinobi by ethic, but she was a decent person by nature. She was a healer. She was most likely fighting her conscience about not getting rid of him. Deidara smiled to himself. What luck. Somehow, he'd found the perfect muse. She obviously wasn't going to hurt him, in fact, she'd already proven that by trying to check his head for 'injuries', although it still bothered him that she had believed him to be crazy.

Ok. So maybe he was just a little crazy. But that had nothing to do with him getting head injuries. He had been obsessive and stubborn for as long as he could remember. He was crazy about art. It was his life. He had no purpose other then to fulfill his artistic desires. The only reason he was loyal to Akatsuki was because they held power over him, or better to say, _Itachi_ had power over him. With Itachi, the Akatsuki could stop him and force him to their will.

But then again, Deidara had never been one to follow rules. That's why he became a missing-nin in the first place. If none of the other Akatsuki members were around to make him follow their rules, he didn't have to.

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A few hours later, the two shinobi were still walking side by side along the dirt road. And, they were still blatantly ignoring the awkwardness of their silence. Suddenly, Sakura stopped walking. Deidara looked over at her.

"What wrong?" he asked. Sakura brought her hand to her brow and searched along the horizon where the sun was steadily getting lower and lower. Sighing, she brought her hand back down and answered him,

"I have to get to a town before it gets dark. At this rate, we'll never make it." She frowned as she turned back to the horizon, seeking signs of anything manmade in the wilderness.

"You know…I have a better way of travel…" Deidara cocked his eyebrow at her suggestively.

"What?! No. No. No. No…"

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"DEIDARA!!! DOWN! NOWWW!!!" Sakura screamed into his ear as she clutched onto him for dear life. They were atop one of his clay birds as it zoomed through the sky about the dirt road that they had been following for the last few hours. Although, unlike his normal birds, this one was smaller so Deidara couldn't stand or crouch.

"Sorry, un. Can't hear you. Too much wind."

Never in her entire life would she have thought that she'd be latched onto a member of Akatsuki for dear life. She was kneeling behind him with her arms wrapped around his torso in a death grip. She would peek around him to look at the rapidly shifting scenery below her then shriek and bury her face into the back of his cloak before the action clicked in her mind and she'd pull her face away, thoroughly repulsed.

Deidara on the other hand was enjoying this too much. Sakura was sure of it. Unfortunately, she didn't have much chance to think about it as the wind whipped her and Deidara's hair everywhere, getting it into her eyes, nose, and mouth (whenever she shouted). And every time she did shout something, Deidara would just give her an incomprehensible grunt, look over his shoulder back at her for a split-second to grin, before turning his attention back to flying the CPV.

He REALLY liked flying. He loved the feeling of being free from the world. He loved the wind in his face. He loved the fleeting view. He also loved the fact that a pretty girl had her arms around him. Unfortunately, said girl's grip was becoming tighter and tighter with each passing moment. It was starting to get rather uncomfortable, too since he could feel his ribs slowly coming together.

Deidara slowed down the bird and tried to wiggle around a little, but the movement caused Sakura's grip to harden, making Deidara wince. He put his hands on the arms that were wrapped around him. Giving a firm squeeze, he turned his head to try to talk to her,

"Hey, Sakura, mind lightening up on the grip, yeah?" Deidara hadn't realized that Sakura had her face buried in his back until he felt the pressure lighten behind him and her face pop into his view. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"No! I'll fall off! You never listened to me when I said to slow down!"

"You won't fall off, un! And I can't slow down if we have to find a town before dark!"

"You can slow down if your 'muse' is about to fall to her death!"

"OK, if you're so scared, come sit in the front!" Deidara had had enough of this. Sitting in the front had been his first suggestion but she had vehemently refused for no good reason, saying something about how she didn't want an Akatsuki behind her back or some such nonsense.

"NO!" Sakura shrieked.

"WHY?" Deidara raised his voice as he started to speed up and the wind began increasing again. He hadn't even been paying attention to his CVP, but his frustration with her must have started to affect his chakra control over the bird.

"SLOW DOWN!" Deidara immediately slowed down so that the bird was close to a smooth glide. Sakura finally caught her breath and answered,

"B-Because! I can't move from here! I'll fall off!" Deidara sighed to himself. This was the kunoichi that was to be his inspiration. She had recently fought him and was willing to leave him in pieces. She had beaten his previous partner, Sasori, who was a master at what he did. She was capable of bringing down entire towns with her inhuman strength. But she was afraid of a little height?

"Look," He gingerly rubbed her arms, trying to calm her down. He could feel the tiny hairs on her skin that stood up straight from her current emotional state. He could feel the muscles in her arms pulled taut. "I've slowed this down, I'll help you move to the front. Just trust me, yeah?" Sakura couldn't believe he was asking her for the impossible. But he was right, maybe it was better for her to sit in the front.

"H-How c-can I trust you?" Good, he thought, she seems a little calmer now.

"Because, I won't let anything happen to my muse, un. And as long as you are my muse, I'll protect you."

"A-And when will I stop being you muse?"

"When my masterpiece is complete, yeah. Now come on…" Deidara lifted her arms away from his chest and slowly twisted around to face her. She was now gripping his arms and he could feel her fingers gouging into his flesh as she looked over the side.

Yup, Sakura was terrified.

"ok, put your leg around me…" He told her. At first, she hesitated but then she slowly lifted herself little by little and inched her right leg out from under her to begin snaking around his torso. Once she had her leg around him, he tugged on her arms and pulled her closer. This caused her to move her hands up to his shoulders, where they were gripping him just as painfully.

"Is this really you first time in the air?" Deidara thought that making small talk would be a good way to distract her from the swirling earth beneath them.

"…" Sakura didn't answer, she just moved her eyes to his, upon meeting them, she narrowed them.

"…guess so, un. Ok, now I'm going to pull you around this way…" He indicated to his left with a tilt of his head, "be ready, yeah."

Deidara then placed his hands firmly around her waist and with one swift movement, swung her around.

All of a sudden Sakura felt her world move too soon, too fast, but the feeling only lasted as long as her squeak of surprise before she found herself sitting snugly in Deidara's lap. His hands were still on her waist holding her in place. All she could see in front of her face was his chest and her hands on his shoulders. Blushing madly, she looked up to meet his eyes and found him to be grinning. This caused her face to get even redder.

"See. You're safe, yeah." She looked up into his face and didn't quite comprehend the meaning of his words, because quite frankly, she was a bit preoccupied with gazing contently at the man in front of her. His hair was blowing back in the wind and no longer obscured his chiseled features.

**My gosh! He's so handsome!**

_But remember he-_

**Why didn't I see it before?!**

_You're sitting in-_

**Shannaro!**

Sakura leaned forward and pecked him on right next to his lips. Inner Sakura had been aiming for his lips but then Sakura pushed through and ruined her plans. Nonetheless, Deidara's eyes widened and he didn't know what happened until he saw a blur of pink move away from him and Sakura's blushing face came back into focus. He had only felt the briefest of tickling, tingling sensation somewhere close to his lips. Her eyes were now darting everywhere so as not to settle on his own. She didn't want to see whatever look he as giving her. Not. At. All. She herself was too surprised by her actions. _Damned hormones._

**But he looked so cute**

_So? You don't kiss every cute guy you see._

**Aha. But you're ignoring the fact that he saved me from falling to my death.**

_But he's the reason you're up here in the first place!_

**Not the point.**

_Fine. Be quiet. I'm trying to stop this stupid blush._

. _She…She kissed me? _Deidara was surprised to say the least. In all actuality, he had never expectedthat to happen. He was simply interested in her for 'professional' reasons. He was the artist, and she was his muse. But that didn't mean that he disliked the idea of something more.

His grinned smugly to himself.

Deidara cleared his throat since it had seemed to collapse on him for a few minutes after the kiss. When Sakura finally met his gaze again, her face no longer matched her hair. She was apprehensive of what he had to say next.

"uh…you know, if you turn around, the view is great, un." Deidara gave a faint smile. Apparently, Sakura had gotten over her fear of being so high up, because she seemed fairly comfortable since her grip on his shoulders was a lot looser. In response, his fingers flexed on her waist and suddenly, she became tense again because she was once again, reminded of where she was and what was happening.

"u-uh-h…yeah, sure….but, how am I going to do that? I'll fall off if I move anymore." Sakura shot a glance at the rapidly moving ground. All she could make out was a blur of greens and browns. His hands on her waist tightened and she turned her attention back to him.

It wasn't until then that she noticed the preposterous position she was in. She was sitting in his lap with her legs wrapped around him and her hands on his shoulders, while his were firmly latched to her waist. AND he was _grinning_. Again. Good god, if anybody back home found out that _this_ is how she brought back Akatsuki, they'd pull _all_ the kunoichi off the teams. The male shinobi would be more jealous of the Akatsuki in their prison cells then of the male models that walked the streets.

"Look, just pull you legs back, let go of me, and I'll turn you around, no problem, yeah. It'll be quick, just like last time." She looked up at Deidara carefully, trying to judge his feelings, as she slowly let her hands slide down his shoulders and onto his chest before letting them settle in her lap. His face showed nothing but a light smile this time and his eyes stared into her own, pleading with her to trust him, assuring her that he wouldn't let her get hurt. He didn't look uneasy on his giant flying contraption in the slightest. Nor did their positions bother him. However, she did notice how the corner of his mouth twitched just a little when her hands slid down his chest. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. But then again, what _was_ she hoping for?

**I guess he didn't mind the kiss…**

_Do NOT do it again._

Lost in her own thoughts, she distractedly followed Deidara's directions and before she knew, she had successfully been turned around and was now facing forward. As soon as she saw the changing landscape again, she underwent another panic attack and she grabbed the only thing she could: Deidara's knees on either side of her.

Soon however, Deidara settled one arm snugly around her waste and she had ended up leaning back into his chest, no longer about to crack his knee caps. It had taken A LOT of coaxing and tittering on his part to calm her down, but eventually she relaxed as he distracted by pointing out various landmarks on the ground below. She was more fidgety then Tobi.

After about an hour of flying when the sky had turned to twilight, Sakura's eyes brightened up as she saw lights in the distance. As they Deidara sped up, she began to make out the odd handful of buildings that made up the little town that was to be her pit-stop. When they got about a mile away from the town, Deidara slowed down and prepared to land.

As the wind stopped blowing in her face and the ground became closer and closer, Sakura realized that, curiously enough, she hadn't even thought about the plan to get rid of Deidara. He was still going to follow her around. And for some reason, she didn't mind as much as she did before. Maybe it was the entire first-time-flyer dilemma, maybe it was because she found herself to be attracted to him (_just a little_, she convinced herself), or maybe it was a combination of both and a third thing that she couldn't even comprehend; all she knew was that she didn't mind him being around her as much as before.

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**So now that you've read this**

**PLEASE tell me what you think! Anything! Positive! Negative! Neutral! JUST REVIEW!!!**

especially since I'm still not sure if want to go on with it. Knowing that there's a worthwhile **audience motivates** me to write more.


	4. Chapter 4

I got a small handful of reviews for the last chapter. There's at least 25 people on alert for this story.** Can I at least get a few more reviews?**

I hope you like it. This story is my second priority, but that doesn't mean that its tacky or bad in anyway.** And if it is, be sure to tell me in a review.**

I don't own the characters, only this unknown plot that I may or may not further develop. You can bribe me to with reviews ;)

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** Morbid Curiosity Fans 0 **The next chapter is coming but it has to be perfect (I'm slightly OCD, have you noticed?) **I recently got a new BETA!** YAY!And she's helping me make it better and fight my writer's block. Gosh, I really need to get some writer's block repellent, don't I? Extra Deet.

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In one soundless swoop, the craft softly landed in the grassy clearing. Sakura was mildly surprise at the less-then-chaotic stop, or maybe she just hadn't felt the turbulence because she was leaning back, cushioned against something warm that matched the curve of her back while another something else that lay snugly against her waist held her firmly in place against it (the first something). The combined effect was not altogether unpleasant.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, because the effect was lost when a voice sounded near her ear.

"Well, there's your village for the night, un. Let's go." And with that, Deidara slipped off from behind Sakura with his Akatsuki cloak trailing. After the sudden loss of warmth , Sakura realized that there was a chill in the air as the sun delved deeper into the horizon.

Once Deidara had straightened himself out, he held a hand up for her to help her get down. Sakura looked at the hand and then she looked at the ground a few feet below. With a huff of indignation, she began to slip off the bird herself. Deidara pulled his offered hand back.

"Suit yourself, un. That's not a good choice for you." Sakura very much hated being treated like an unequal, this was even more so when done by the same person she had beaten a couple hours ago. Did he not learn anything from that battle?

Ignoring him, Sakura continued to slide off the bird's back. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she immediately understood why Deidara had offered her a hand. With a greenish face, she felt the rising affects of vertigo and her legs nearly turned to jelly so she could barely stand up. Leaning awkwardly against the side of the chakra craft for a moment, she tried to collect herself.

"Told you, un."

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura took a quivering step away from the bird. As soon as she put her weight on one foot, her legs buckled and she fell forward, but before she could hit the ground, hands caught her around the waist once more and she was again leaning against a muscular chest.

"Let go of me! I can walk by myself!" Sakura told him through gritted teeth as she struggled against his hold.

"No, un. You'll hurt yourself. You strained your legs too much on the bird. You can't stand yet."

"Yes! I can! I'm perfectly fine! Let go!" Sakura just didn't want to give in to him. She _knew_ she was tougher then that and she wanted to prove it to him again since he seemed to have forgotten that she had smashed him and his bird with a freaking tree. To get her point across, she gripped the front of his exposed shirt with both hands and pulled herself closer to his face.

"Let me go!"

Deidara looked at her indifferently before he let go of her waist.

"Fine, un."

Immediately Sakura went down while still clutching his clothes. Gasping, she swore under her breath as she tried to force her over-strained muscles to support her weight.

Seeing her futile attempts to stand, before him, Deidara resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he sighed and scooped her up in both arms. Automatically, she released a shrill cry of extreme displeasure and struggled against his hold until he got tired of her flailing and told her to stop. It wasn't like she could hurt him. Her legs couldn't move. If he did let her go, she'd drop to the ground and probably hurt herself.

"Sakura, please, just stop, yeah. Seriously, all you have to do is relax for a few minutes and you'll be as good as new." Sakura simply furrowed her brows and struggled further,

"No! I'm serious! Just let me go, and I'll relax!"

Deidara was not a man of much patience by nature, so taking care of his muse was the only thing his reserves of patience were used for. However, he had expected her to be a little more logical than this (she was a medic, yeah!), so his earlier patience was slowly dwindling. He pressed her tightly against his abdomen and forced her to stop moving,

"Relax." She still resisted, so he set his mouth into a straight line and tightened his hold on the kunoichi. She was no longer resisting, instead she had taken up glaring at him hatefully instead. Deidara loosened his hold and gave her a smile,

"See, that's better, yeah. Now just relax and in about fifteen minutes, you'll be able to pump chakra through those legs again. And you know something else,un?" his voice changed tones and his next words came out slyly, "that death-glare of your's is almost inspiring, too."

Sakura continued to glare at him as she spat out her response,

"Does it inspire you to create visions of your future death?"

At this, Deidara's mouth quirked up at one corner to resemble his characteristic smirk. His muse sure was feisty, he thought, as he started to walk down the rest of the dirt road that lead to the small village.

"That's funny, but no. It's just that it's very expressive, yeah." Deidara looked forward at the village gates in the distance.

"So that means you _do_ know how much I hate you, right now." Sakura's glare lightened up as she found another outlet to vent her anger from. Talking his ear off. _Wait…why did I say 'right now'?! I've always hated him! _

**Yes, but **_**now**_** it's more of a 'dislike' then an utter loathing**

_NO, I still lllloa-theh h-him_

**See, you can't even admit it. Don't deny it.**

_sigh But he's still very annoying with all his 'muse' talk._

Deidara looked down at the pink-haired girl in his arms.

"Hey, I'm being nice to you, un. I'm not like this to everybody. In fact, I don't recall I've ever been this nice to anyone before, even if they give me free food, yeah."

"Is stalking me for miles, dragging me onto your bird thing, then speeding off into the sky, nearly dropping me from hundreds of feet in the air, then holding me hostage in your arms, your idea of being_nice_?"

Deidara frowned.

"Quit exaggerating, un. It wasn't that bad, and half of what you said isn't even true. Besides, people actually pay a lot of money for a ride like that."

Sakura gave a very unladylike snort and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Who'd pay for that?"

Deidara left it as a rhetorical question and walked on towards the village, silently gazing at her every few minutes. After the first of Deidara's intense stares, Sakura had to look away blushing. She just couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head. Seriously, what did he see in her that kept making him look back? Sakura came up with a variety of different reasons as she kept her eyes focused on the approaching city. The muscle cramps in her legs were starting to go away, she could now twiddle her toes and bend her ankles, but her knees and thighs were still tight. Grudgingly, she had to admit that he was right about the relaxing part. What's funnier still was that she was _actually_ relaxing. _Oh, well. This isn't the time to argue._

Sakura's eyes were still on the horizon when she felt a prickle in the back of her head that told her that she was being watched. A little bit annoyed, she turned her head and made contact with the pair of blue eyes. Deidara didn't flinch, and Sakura decided to have a little staring contest. They looked at each other for a few minutes. Deidara was thinking the same mysteriously artsy and deep thoughts he always did when he looked at his muse. Sakura on the other hand wasn't really thinking about anything deep, instead her eyes took in his features. The same ones she had kissed a short while ago. Sakura blushed at that but didn't look away. Just what was it that made her do that? What was so attractive about him anyway?

Deidara grinned, noticing her blush.

_Oh yeah, that's one of the reasons._ The answer to Deidara and Sakura's individual questions. Deidara had been wondering why he couldn't leave her, why he just _knew_ that she was his muse, his would-be inspiration. For him, it was that wild blush of hers. The one thing that she couldn't control about herself. For her, it was that boyish grin that stated 'Fear nothing' and assured her that all would be well.

She could now swing her knees about, albeit a tad uncomfortably because her thighs were still sore from clutching that infernal bird's neck.

Sakura unconsciously reached over and smoothed his hair back so that it no longer obscured his face. Her fingertips lightly trailed along his cheekbone before slipping behind his ear and coming down. Deidara couldn't help, he managed to control the expression on his face to remain to same, but the mouths on his hands opened a little in an 'O'. All of sudden, Sakura shrieked began thrashing in his arms, and since she could move her legs better, she was a lot harder to control.

_Dammit_, Deidara thought. He didn't need to ask her what happened. He already knew. They were his hands, weren't they?

"Sakura! Calm down! It was nothing, un!"

"No! What the heck was that?! Something licked my knee!"

Deidara mildly blushed at his hands' uncontrollable antics.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was my hand…uh, sometimes I can't exactly control them…" That was, by far, the most ludicrous thing Sakura would have ever heard had it been said by someone else in some other context. She would have punched the man's head into the ground had he not been entirely serious about the whole matter of not being able to control his hands, or more precisely, his _tongues_. Sakura stopped thrashing. She was still feeling quite grossed out, but she took a deep breath to calm down. She didn't want to say something to him about his hands that would offend him. She assumed that, as the artistic type, and someone with a very rare and easily noticeable kekkei genkai, he'd be a bit sensitive.

"Deidara, just put me down. Now. I think I can walk by myself…" Sakura was still sore but she had to get out of his arms, she muttered the next part under breath as he knelt to set her on her feet, "…God, who knows what else those hands have been doing…"

Deidara chuckled softly,

"nothing I don't know of, un. Making bombs. Doing dishes. Eating clay. Drooling."

Sakura was shocked for a moment that he'd heard her before she broke into a small grin. Well, _that_ threw Sakura's _he's sensitive_ theory out the window. Apparently, he was pretty casual about his hand-mouths. They were normal to him. And in all truth, Sakura hadn't noticed until the hand-mouths actually _announced_ their presence by licking her knee.

"You sure you can walk, un? I don't mind carrying you all the way to the hotel if you can't." Deidara had an arm around her shoulders supporting her up as she took a few steps forwards. The image Deidara's words made in her mind made her mentally grimace. What would people think if an Akatsuki walked into town carrying a Konoha kunoichi bridal style, and to a hotel room, no less? Yeah, she didn't want to think about it.

"I know _you_ might not mind, but _I_ do. Look, I can walk."

"Alright, yeah. You win. But I'm not letting you walk by yourself."

"I wasn't walking by myself anyway, you'd follow me one way or another." Sakura made a face, she hadn't even realized that she wasn't fighting his being with her anymore. Deidara smiled.

"True, I wouldn't." The two walked like that until the town's gates could clearly be seen, even in the diminishing daylight. Deidara had forced Sakura to put an arm around his neck while he kept one around her waist, 'just in case, yeah.' he told her.

"Oh! Deidara…that reminds me…this is Fire country, if they see you, they'll know you're Akatsuki and whatever shinobi are around will try to kill you, instantly."

"Try to kill me, yeah, but they won't be able to. I'm too good at what I do. I'll get you and me out of there." He smirked at her mischievously.

"No! I don't want to make a scene! Remember, _you're_ coming with_me_, that means I'm leading. I want you to hide your identity before we walk through those gates." Deidara stopped walking and looked at her,

"Are you serious, un?"

"I_do not_ want to be seen with an Akatsuki trailing around." She deadpanned. Deidara gave an exasperated sigh.

"Then what do you want me to do about it? How am I supposed 'hide my identity'?" Deidara waved one hand making quotation marks in the air in front of her face. The tongue was hanging out. Sakura looked away from the unsettling sight, she didn't think she'd get used to his hands again after the licking incident. Her eyes landed on his cloak, particularly the red clouds that marked him as Akatsuki.

"Your cloak." She said, pointing to one of the clouds. Deidara looked down.

"…what about it, un?"

"Hide it…or do something about it. It's the clouds that give you away." Rolling his eyes, Deidara took a step back from Sakura and took his cloak off. Turning it inside-out, he put it on again.

"There, better, un?" The inverted cloak looked rather disconcerting at first. The seams were hanging out and loose threads hung here and there. It looked downright shabby, and it just didn't look right on him with his smooth, golden hair. But the weirdest part was the collar. Unlike the normal black, it was a vivid red. Although the clouds were well hidden, the red collar was still …eye-catching.

"…uh…I guess that'll work." She turned and started walking towards the gate. Deidara caught up to her a few seconds later. Together they entered the small cluster of houses and shops.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, she was being followed by _another_ party from a distance. A second Akatsuki who wore an orange colored mask. The same one whose existence Deidara had vaguely wondered about nearly half a day ago.

There was a soft rustle of something moving near the town's walls.

_A Tobi lurked behind the bushes. His lone eye following his blond partner and his 'muse'._

"Sempai?"

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**Seriously, I'm dying here. If I get more reveiws for this then I do my other story, then I'll focus on it more.**

**MORE REVEIWS equals MORE DEIxSAKU ** **crack**

...mmmm...I'm actually against bribery, but this is the one exception.**  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Oi!**

**Warning: ** **This is kind of a heavy chapter AND it's long **

** It's full of cheesy romantic cliches and parts that made me -squeee-**

** ...so I'll talk about stuff in the end of it :) **

**Question: is at the end too, please answer it...pretty please? **

I don't own anything but this poor, pathetic plot...

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They walked into the only place that would offer a room for the night: a small inn in a rather grimy section of town.

The inn's main floor was a small tavern whose food and drink brought the bulk of its income. Deidara left Sakura alone at an empty table at in one corner while he went to find the proprietor of the establishment.

Sakura had ordered a cup of hot cider from one of the serving girls. She sat there sipping her drink and watching Deidara haggle with the owner to get the right room for the right price. Sakura had wanted separate rooms, but obviously, he wouldn't allow her to be out of his sight, so he told her he'd get a room with two beds for propriety's sake.

Sakura watched silently amused as Deidara pulled the man closer by the collar and growled something in low tones. Although she couldn't make it out, it was most likely a threat by the way the man's eyes widened in fear and his hands came up to placate Deidara. She was too busy watching the owner vigorously nod and run to fetch the keys to notice the handful of rough-cut and testosterone driven men who'd made their way to gather at the table behind her from the other side of the tavern.

When she heard the low whispers being tossed back and forth behind her back, Sakura stiffened ever so slightly but continued to sip at her drink. She picked up a few words such as 'Pinkie', 'hot', 'night', 'alone', and some others that shouldn't even be written. Her fingers itched to grab a few shuriken and nip all their ears and noses. She wasn't worried about them, she didn't even sense them to have any chakra, so they obviously were not shinobi. It would be no problem to defeat them. But there was the problem of their being quite a bit more in number. Fighting them would make a scene and she wanted to avoid that as long as possible.

A few seconds passed before one of them got up and approached. She proceeded to gaze at her drink. Closing her eyes, she lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip, savoring the warm liquid as it slid down her throat and ignoring the slimy man next to her table. She heard a few snickers behind her. A hand slapped down at the end of the table and into her line of vision.

"I don't like being ignored, woman." Came a gruff voice. Sakura kept her face neutral. Her half-lidded eyes spoke of boredom as she slowly turned her head and moved her gaze from the thick hand defiling her table to the body that the limb cam from, all the way up until it finally settled on a grimy, unshaven face. In a quick second, she memorized his features for identification purposes later, and stared at a spot past his shoulder as she told him in a clipped, clear voice,

"Then get used to it, man. I'm ignoring you."

The man bristled, not only by her definite actions but also by the tone of superiority in her voice. There was a smothered guffaw from behind her and the man growled,

"There's something I need from you, woman. Get up and come with me, now, or I'll make you."

Sakura was about to threaten him back but another voice sounded from behind the slimy man.

"There's no need, un, so leave. Now."

The man's eyes narrowed for a second before he grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her in front of himself as he turned to face Deidara. Sakura's mug of cider spilt across the table and the entire tavern went silent as the tavern owner watched the scene unfold, sweating from behind the bar. Everyone could hear the cider as it made its way to the dirty wooden floor. Drip. Drip. Drip.

"There's no need for you to get involved, boy. This is business between a man and his woman."

Sakura internally fumed. She wanted to leave the guy in pieces and that's just what she began to do. She glared at the man and grabbed his wrist that was holding hers with her free hand.

"Let. Go. Of. Me. This instant."

"Shut up, woman. You're coming with me."

Sakura mustered up all the hate and loathing in the world straight into her voice, but before she could say anything, something else stopped her. A growl. Low and feral. Much more fearsome then what any of the other tavern men could emit. It was almost as scary as Naruto's growl when he tapped into the Kyuubi. She looked up to see Deidara. He had a murderous glare in his eye and a maniacal grin played on his lips. The growl was erupting from between them, coming from deep within him.

"That was a big mistake, yeah." His hands emerged from the folds of his cloak. Fingers unfolding to reveal a small clay spider. It jumped from his palm and began its skittering path towards Sakura's captor. The slimy man's eyes widened and as his grip on her wrist grew slack, while her own tightened. He tried to step back from the arachnid but Sakura held him firmly in place. The spider was just about to reach his feet when her tried to jump back from it. Sakura's grip continued to tighten, then there was a sickening snap as his wrist broke.

The man screamed in pain and dropped to his knees cradling his shattered wrist. As Sakura sidestepped away from him, the clay spider climbed up his leg unnoticed. She went to stand next to Deidara, whose glare was aimed at the man and his 'buddies' who were now surrounding him.

"All of you leave this place, yeah. And don't ever lay a finger my muse again." He growled. The thugs fled like rats into the sewers. The slimy man whose wrist Sakura broke slinked out after throwing them a malevolent glare. Deidara's aggression was still there as he stared after them. Sakura tentatively touched his hand, looking at him a little a concerned.

"Deidara?" she asked him softly, he turned to look at her. Instantly, his eyes softened and his animosity faded to nothing but concern.

"You ok, Sakura?"

"I was going to ask you." Deidara gave a small smile and grasped her hand in his, giving it a quick squeeze to assure her,

"I'm fine. They didn't do anything to you, while I was gone, did they?"

"No. I'm telling you, I can take care of myself." She smiled back.

"Ok, whatever you say, un. I got a room for us, just what you asked. Come on."

------

Sakura and Deidara arrived at their room a few minutes later after heading up a hidden flight of stairs in the corner of the tavern. There were two other rooms next to their own, but one of them couldn't be used because its bed was found in their room.

Deidara walked straight to the window that looked down at the street. Curious, Sakura came over to stand next to him to see what he was seeing.

"What are you looking at?- Sakura gasped- It's that creep! What's he still doing here?!" Lo and behold, there was the slimy guy that had tried to take Sakura, leaning against the building across the street, looking sneaky as he glanced up at their window every few times.

"…that asshole….Sakura, don't look, un." Deidara muttered as he raised his hands to make the Tiger seal. Sakura panicked, she knew that's how he set off his explosives. She didn't want anything to blow up. Let alone, a person, even if said person _did_ do something worth hell.

"D-deidara, d-don't! He's not doing anything! You might hurt civilians!" She grabbed his arms, but they wouldn't budge. She looked at his face, and that murderous look was there again.

"He touched you, Sakura. And he's still here. I can't let him get away with it now, I already gave him a chance."

"But Deidara! You'll hurt civilians!" Sakura tried reasoning with him.

"There's no civilians around, un."

"You'll destroy that building!"

"It's a small blast."

"But-"

"Katsu" Instantly, Sakura looked away grimacing. She heard a muffled explosion and a scream of great agony. She waited for the screaming to die down but it didn't. It continued for a few minutes. Wait…if he's dead…he shouldn't be screaming…Sakura looked back, prepared to be shocked at what she would see. She gasped.

"You-You…you didn't kill him?" Deidara looked grim.

"Death was too easy for him. He deserves hell just for looking at you and_thinking _that he could do something like that." The man was in a writhing bloody pile, doubled over, crying in pain as he clutched his front.

"What did you _do_?" Sakura asked in awe.

"Blew something of his off. Bastard had it coming, yeah. Especially if he treated all women like that." Deidara turned away from the window disgusted, leading her away from the sight outside. Sakura…well Sakura was simply stunned at Deidara's sheer ferocity. He steered her to one of the beds and sat down on the other across from her, shrugging off his inverted Akatsuki cloak. As it fell from his shoulders, Sakura eyed it quietly and sighed.

_He__**is**__ Akatsuki. Just because he's nice to you doesn't mean he treats everyone like that._

**Yeah. He told me that much already. I should have expected it.**

_But why didn't you?_

**I guess…just for a moment…he didn't seem so bad. And when he…when he carried me…I tried so hard to forget that I was in the arms of an enemy**

_I guess you tired too hard, huh._

**No. …I didn't even have to.**

Sakura began preparing for bed. She knew Deidara was watching her again, but she didn't mind. She was too tired from the day. She bent over to slip off her boots and tucked them at the side of her bed. She contemplated asking if they were 'safe' for the night because as Shinobi, checking everything around you and setting up traps before you go to sleep is something that's drilled into your brain until it becomes a reflex. Looking up at Deidara's watchful gaze and remembering the scene outside, she let it go, because of course, they were safe. Nobody was going to bother them after hearing about Deidara's animal-like anger.

She began removing all of her kunai holsters and shuriken pouches. Even the hidden poisoned senbon she had all over her person. _That_ was a long process. She had to be careful and not accidentally scratch herself.

_I can't believe you were about to kick his butt to high heaven earlier today._

**Yeah, and here he is, saving me from the 'bad guys'**

_And then wreaking his vengeance on them, too._

**My God, he's possessive.**

_Nobody has ever been like that around us. Closest thing is Naruto but he'll rip anybody up if they hurt __**any **__of his friends. Is that healthy?_

**I don't know, but I think…I'm kind of starting to like it…**

_You're such an attention whore._

**No, I'm not! That's Ino!...Besides…this is different…**

_Oh really? How so?_

**…because I'm his 'muse' now so it's like his duty to pay attention to me and 'protect' me even though I don't need it…beside I can't stop him from doing it.**

Duuaaaaaaaaghrrrghrrr

Sakura's stomach grumbled as she twisted to put all her weapons on the side table. Blushing, she ignored it and hoped that Deidara hadn't heard it either.

Unfortunately for her, he didn't, for he grinned at her,

"I guess we're both hungry, un. Wait here, I'll go get us some food."

Sakura's blush doubled as she silently nodded her head and watched him leave the room. Deidara grinned wider and shut the door behind him.

She took a deep breath and let it out. Getting up, she walked around the room looking at the things she hadn't noticed before. There wasn't much to it. Just a bed, a night table with a small lamp, and a second bed lined up against one wall, as well as a small chest and drawers in one corner while the opposite corner held a slim door which most likely led to the bathroom. The one window that looked over the street was set between the dresser and the water closet. Sakura walked to it and looked out for the second time that evening.

The man was no longer there but a blood splattered trail lead away from the spot he used to be at. Sakura grimaces and decided to put the matter behind her. There were worse things that could have happened, and besides, there was nothing she could do to stop Deidara. But then again, her inner agreed that the man totally had it coming to him. It was for the greater good of humanity that Deidara dealt with him.

The window's shutters were wide open and when a breeze blew by, she shivered. Rubbing her bare arms up and down, she looked around for something to block the chill. She looked at the dingy blankets on her bed. She went over and fingered an edge of the course fabric and found upon closer inspection, that it was covered by a variety of textured, discolored spots all over.

**Ew**

Still shivering and rubbing her arms, her eyes landed on Deidara's inverted Akatsuki cloak piled on his bed.

_What?! No! You can't be thinking to wear _that_! It's an Akatsuki Cloak!_

**But I'm cold…**

_It's_his_ cloak!_

**But it's warm…**

_No!_

**Just for a little while, then I'll take it off. It's not like I'm joining the Akatsuki or something.**

Sakura sat on his bed and picked up the cloak, inspecting it and turning it right-side out. Carefully, she wrapped it around her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief. The heavy fabric was deliciously warm and the only stains on it were from clay and mud. With a small smile of contentment, she got up and went back to the window to pull its shutters closed. She pulled one in and reached for the other but not before pausing to spare a last glance outside.

The sun had set a while back and now, the sky was dark enough for the stars to be seen clearly. They twinkles in the sky just like they always did. They were the same stars that were her distant lights from her genin days. They were the same stars that gave her hope after every catastrophe. Still with one arm outstretched to to rest on the open shutter, Sakura gazed at the sky, completely entranced by it and its memories. So lost in the stars was she that she didn't even notice that Deidara had reentered the room with food. Nor did she take notice when he stood still a couple of feet away from her, watching. Only when he suddenly started to shuffle around the room gathering things did she get startled by his presence.

"Deidara! You're b-"

"Shh! Stay like that, yeah. Don't move!" He came over and turned her to the window again. Bewildered by what he was doing and annoyed by not being able to do what she wanted, Sakura kept her head forward but watched Deidara from the corner of the eye.

"Seriously, Deidara, what are you doing?"

"Shh! Stay still Sakura! You're doing that muse thing again!" Deidara busied his hands, glancing up at her every few seconds to only look back at what he was sculpting.

_'muse thing'?_

**What the hell?**

_-gasp!- Hurry! Stay still so he can finish and leave us alone!_

**Oh yeah! As soon as he finishes it, we're home free!**

So, Sakura stood stalk still for the next twenty or so minutes, even as Deidara came closer and walked around her. After a few more minutes, Deidara sat down on the edge of his bed to continue his work, but Sakura's arm began to get sore from being held up in the same position for so long.

"Deidara….are you almost done?" I'm getting tired…"

Deidara sighed and gave a delayed response.

"Yeah, un. I'll be as finished with this as I'll ever be, yeah." He sounded deflated.

Sakura turned around to face him.

"What's wrong?" Wordlessly, Deidara held his hand up, and sitting in his palm was a small sculpture of Sakura. Upon seeing it Sakura gasped,

"That looks amazing, Deidara! Can I hold it?" without waiting for an answer, she took it from his hand and sat down right next to him, carefully turning the sculpture over in her hands as she observed it. It fit easily in Deidara's hands but Sakura's were smaller then his. It wasn't a fully developed figurine of her as she had originally thought, it was more of a bust. All it had was a head, chest, shoulders, and one of her arms. This was the same arm that she had extended out to the shutter.

Bringing it closer to her eyes, she realized that it lacked no details what-so-ever. It was so perfect and exact in its likeness that she didn't even mind that he'd carved her wearing the Akatsuki cloak. Every single thing had been intricately carved into the clay. Every strand of hair, every curve of her body, every fold of fabric–it was all there. Even the face looked just like her own.

While she observed his work, Deidara scooted closer and observed her.

"This is perfect. I've never seen anything like it before." Sakura breathed with awe in her voice. Deidara put one hand on the bed behind her to brace himself as he leaned down to look at the work in his muse's hands. He frowned.

"You really think so, un?"

"Yeah. You got all of the details. I didn't even know that my hair looked like that in the back." Sakura spoke softly as she met his eyes, which were surprisingly, a lot closer then she expected. Her eyes widened and a faint color spread across her cheeks. Deidara shook his head and gave a small smile. He loved it when she did that.

"I didn't get all of them, un. This means that I have to get better. Faster. I was too slow in my art, I missed the most important detail."

Sakura's brow furrowed a little, trying to comprehend his meaning.

"What do you mean? What's missing?"

Deidara raised his other hand and slowly ran it down the side of her face. From her temple to her jaw, until he held her chin between his thumb and forefinger, speaking as he did so,

"This. Your expression, Sakura. This is what inspired me. When I walked into the room, you just looked so…so perfect, yeah. I wanted to capture it. To mimic it. To make it my own for the world to see…for the world to appreciate my art and to understand…what I fell in love with." With every word that came out of Deidara's mouth, Sakura became more and more unsettled. She just couldn't believe what she was hearing. In fact, it was getting harder to think because she could just barely make out his last words and her own thoughts over the _thump-thump_ of her wildly beating heart. And when she did finally make out his last words, her heart skipped a beat and her mind froze. Inner Sakura ran around in circles, tripping over her own feet.

_He-he…loves me?_

**Yeah! He just said so!**

_…not exactly…if you think about the whole thing…he said he wants the world to appreciate his art and what he fell in love with…what he fell in love with could just be his art…_

**What?!**

_I'm just saying…there could be another meaning-_

**But….**

Oh, how long had Sakura wanted to hear words like that. This was the first time anyone had ever told her something similar (besides Naruto and Lee, of course, but they don't count) and she wasn't sure if he really meant it that way. Gah! Why was her love life so complicated?

Deidara's fingers were still on her jaw. He brushed a thumb across her flushed cheek as he continued,

"But that's not all, yeah. You're the most emotional shinobi (besides the Kyuubi kid), I've ever met. You do a good job hiding it, but you still wear all your feelings on your sleeve, and that's what I like about you….that's why you're my muse."

Inner Sakura deflated, as did her blush. Even though she wanted him gone, she secretly had been wishing for those words to mean something else. Sakura broke eye contact and looked down. Deidara tilted her chin up and read her like an open book.

"Don't look so sad, un. I'm not that shallow. That's just what I _like_ about you-there's something else that I think…I _love…"_

Sakura looked up.

"S-Something you…love? What?"

Deidara placed both hands on Sakura's shoulders and pressed his ear against the center of her chest. In the sudden intrusion of her personal space, Sakura dropped the sculpture on the bed and her hands shot forward to entwine themselves in his hair.

"This, un." Deidara breathed as he listened to her heart beating.

"I…oh." Sakura was stunned speechless. But okay. She digested this new information, even though it was really hard because it was so utterly romantic, she'd never seen the liked of it before…let alone expect it from an Akatsuki. She didn't know what to do next. All she could feel was a funny, warm sensation building up in her tummy. Then it slowly spread through her whole body and Sakura's rational brain began to shut down.

Inner Sakura felt giddy. She liked this feeling. She'd felt something similar to it before when Sasuke was still around but it had never_ever_ been as strong as it was now. In fact, what she felt now was better.

And she wanted more.

Her fingers loosened in Deidara's hair and began trading nonsense patterns on his scalp. Deidara had his eyes closed and was contentedly listening to Sakura's heart pulsate. When he felt her fingers begin weaving through his hair, his smile broadened and he let his arms slip from her shoulder to encircle her waist. Sakura smiled as well even though neither of them could see the other's face.

Sakura hadn't even realized that she had been craving this feeling for the longest time. She had wanted it. Needed it, all along. That's why her life right now seemed so dull. Sure she had a great life going, what with her affectionate friends and family, a fulfilling career as a medic, the excitement of being a Shinobi, the contentment of being an independent, strong, kunoichi….how _could_ there be anything missing?

Oh, but there was.

There was an entire chunk missing. Even when Sasuke was around, that chunk had been there because she had loved him. Those feelings ere there even if they were one-sided. After he left, that essential part of her life shrunk and shrunk until it was no more. Then, over the years, that space that not having someone to love, left behind grew. Slowly, but surely, it grew. Sakura hadn't noticed it before because there had always been more important things to worry about then herself. Like Naruto. Like Konoha.

Then there was the other side of the issue.

Ok. So this wasn't the first time that someone had confessed their love for her, but it _was_ the first time that she could see herself reciprocating those feelings back. There had been Naruto, Lee, some others, and even Sai, in that odd, annoying way of his. Hmm…yes, even Sai. What's more is that they were _all_ extreme cases. Not one of the men that had fallen for her could _ever_ be considered 'normal', and thus, Deidara of the Akatsuki was no different. Gah! Why did she always attract the weirdos?

**Fine.** She decided. **I'll give him a chance.**

Sakura stopped thinking and her hands paused in their ministrations when she heard a rumble against her chest. Deidara was chuckling.

"What is it?"

Deidara answered as he let go of her,

"You're still hungry and the food is getting cold, un."

------------

"Tobi found Sempai! Tobi found Sempai!" Tobi did his little victory dance on the rood of the building across the inn. Then he stopped and tapped a finger where his chin would be under his mask.

"But what should Tobi do? Sempai is with Pretty Girl and Sempai will get angry at Tobi and try to kill Tobi again if Tobi scares Pretty Girl."

Tobi paced the rood and thought (as much as he could) about his next move.

"-gasp!- Pretty Girl is wearing an Akatsuki cloak! That means Pretty Girls won't be scared of Tobi and Deidara Sempai won't be mad! Then Tobi should go to Sempai right away!"

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**QUESTION: Woot! So tell me! Was there too much drama? **

** Was it too...intense? I felt weird writing about it...and the fact that it just seems sooo cliche to me ...but then again, I did warn you all that this fic would be a covered in so much cheddar, it would rival Wisconsin (no offense to Wisconsin-ers)**

** But is all this cheddar a good thing? (personally, I like Pepper Jack...the jalapenos give it that extra kick)  
**

****

**and Tobi...Tobi...Tobi. I love Tobi. He's just my favorite character when he's not impersonating the evil Uchiha. Do you like Tobi? Well, you should cause you're about to read a lot more of him -grins- because, yes, I already started the next chappie :D  
**

**REVIEW **REVIEW **REVIEW **REVIEW **REVIEW** **please? I don't care what you say, just leave a review to let me know that this story is worth continuing.  
**

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	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, you're wearing my cloak, un."

Sakura stuffed her next bite into her mouth before looking up to answer him sheepishly,

"Yeah…I was cold…" she chewed and swallowed, "Is it okay if I wear it… just for now? You can have it back, if you want."

"No, its fine, yeah, you can wear it…but don't you have anything else to wear?" We might get caught in bad weather later."

Sakura shook her head, 'no' before continuing,"…and those bed sheets are disgusting…I don't know how either of us will sleep in them…"

Deidara looked up frowning from his nearly empty bowl,

"They are?" he finished the last of his food as Sakura nodded an affirmative, "…bastard…even after all that, he still gives us crappy service…I'll go find the guy and get clean sheets." Deidara muttered as he got up,

"You stay here, yeah? I'll be back in a few minutes." Sakura was about to argue to come with him but he was already gone.

"hmph…leaves me alone like I'm some stupid damsel in distress. I can take care of myself! Who does he think he is? Telling me what to do…" Sakura darkly muttered that and the like under her breath as she got up and cleaned the table of their late dinner. Walking around, she tidied up the dank little room. Noticing the sheets on the bed, she decided that she might as well get rid of the old sheets if Deidara was bringing new ones.

She approached his bed first and noticed the sculpture he'd made of her. It had fallen from her hands and onto the bed. She picked it up, examining it once more before placing it on the bedside table.

Methodically, she stripped the first bed and piled the old sheets on the floor before moving to the next one. Sakura bent over and pulled the nasty blanket off her bed. Stretching it out and holding it away from her, she turned around to walk it to the last pile, but only to come face to face with an orange swirled mask.

Sakura's eyes widened as she shrieked and Tobi lunged to glomp her while she jumped back and tossed the icky blanket at Tobi's head. All the while, Tobi shouted,

"Tobi welcomes Pretty Girl! Tobi welcome Pretty Girl to Akatsuki!"

Tobi had wrapped his arms around Sakura while she hit him multiple times with her free arm on his blanket-clad head. For whatever reason, Tobi hadn't notice it yet.

"Ack!_-thump-_ Get! -_thump-_ Off -_thump-_ Of me! -_thump thump-_" 

"But Tobi wants to give Pretty Girl a welcome hug!" Tobi frowned and opened his eye to see the pretty girl's angry face, only to find that he couldn't see it. Instead, he saw darkness and his Sharingan automatically activated to zoom in on the organisms growing on the blanket.

"Aghhhhh! Get it off! Get it off Tobi!" Tobi jumped off Sakura and began darting around the room, knocking the table and chairs over in the process. Sakura watched fascinated for a minute at the unprecedented antics of the unknown Akatsuki and at a complete loss for what to do about them.

Then Tobi ran towards her again and in the blink of an eye, she was once more on the floor as Tobi rolled around, tangled in the filthy blanket. She eyed the blanket with disdain and decided right then and there, that, whoever he was, he didn't deserve to be under that blanket (and to stop the entire building from crashing down because of all his thrashing about). Knowing that she'd regret this later, Sakura grabbed a hold of the blanket, and using her inhuman strength, whipped it off Tobi in one quick tug. Tobi instantly stilled for a second before glomping Sakura a second time and swinging her around the room.

"Yay! Pretty Girl save Tobi from monster! Thank you, Pretty Girl!"

"T-Tobi-i-i…?" Sakura tried to make a coherent sentence, but she was too dizzy from being spun around the room. A moment later, she heard Deidara roar,

"TOBI! PUT HER DOWN!"

Tobi froze and gasped, dropping the kunoichi where she stood with an 'oof'. Upon hearing that, Deidara lunged at Tobi. The clean, neat stack of linens in his arms fell in a forgotten heap. Tobi yelped and Deidara growled. Sakura got up unsteadily and put a green-glowing hand to her head as she watched the two men struggle on the floor.

"Dei…dara?"

The men stopped and Deidara looked up to see his muse's confused look. He gave Tobi one more good smack across the head before getting up and walking to Sakura as if nothing had happened.

"That idiot didn't hurt you, did he?"

"N-No….but who is he?" She looked over at Tobi. Deidara glared at Tobi with disdain as he got up and brushed himself off. Deidara pulled Sakura to the other side of the room and set her down on the bare mattress with a sigh.

"That's my idiot partner Tobi, yeah."

"Your_partner_?" Her eyes widened as she stared at the balefully approaching Akatsuki member whose mask hung askew. _Ack! How could I have forgotten that Akatsuki members always travel in pairs!_

"Don't come any closer, un." Deidara's voice rang out sharply and froze the other man in place and then, to Sakura's shock, to start whimpering as he rubbed his head.

"But Tobi only wanted to give Pretty Girl a hug!"

Deidara slapped his own forehead and sat down next to Sakura with a groan.

"Tobi…you know you're not supposed to talk to strangers, let alone, throw your arms around them!"

"Pretty Girl isn't a stranger! She's Akatsuki, like Tobi!" At this, both, Sakura and Deidara looked up questioningly at Tobi.

"I'm not part of Akatsuki! I'd die before that happened!" Sakura snapped automatically.

"But then why is Pretty Girl wearing a cloak like Tobi's? Can Tobi see your ring!" All of a sudden, Tobi was bending down before her and grabbing at her hands before Deidara snatched them back and tucked them down in Sakura's lap.

"Touch her again and you'll be all over the streets in pieces, un." Deidara hissed "and no, she's isn't Akatsuki. She's better then all of us."

"But then why is she wearing a cloak like Tobi's? Is she a good girl?"

"None of you business, un."

Sakura watched the two men bicker about her. The two _Akatsuki_ men bicker. About _her_. Feeling rather stranger and lost, she began slipping off Deidara's cloak but his arm came up around her shoulder and held the fabric in place.

"If you're cold un, then wear it."

Before Sakura could argue, Tobi gasped in amazement and rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Sempai is being nice! Deidara Sempai is being a good boy!"

"Shut up, Tobi!" Deidara shouted. Sakura quirked a brow at him, amused.

"Sempai?"

Deidara groaned to himself as he tried to explain to her how being called 'Sempai' was not his idea. Sakura simply smiled mischievously before getting up to put up the clean linens he'd brought in.

"Sure thing, 'Sempai'!"

Deidara sighed to himself then moved to berate Tobi again.

"See what you did, un? Now she thinks I'm a 'Sempai'!"

"But Deidara Sempai is a Sempai." Tobi cocked his head to the side.

"NO. I'm not _her_ sempai, and I definitely didn't ask to be yours, yeah."

"Then if you're not her sempai, Deidara Sempai, then what are you?"

Deidara bristled and began to painstakingly explain the relationship between an artist and his muse, leaving certain things out so that Tobi's simplistic mind would better understand. Of course Tobi nodded vehemently throughout the lecture and concluded that _Deidara_ was _his_ muse which incidentally caused another argument to erupt.

All the while, Sakura fixed up her bed and remained lost in her own thoughts. She still wasn't sure what to make of the strange, new Akatsuki member. Apparently he was Deidara's partner, wore an orange swirled mask, and had the trademark cloak, so he was really an Akatsuki. But she just couldn't believe it. He was just so…childish. His actions didn't match who he was. Akatsuki were always mean, ruthless, and persistent in what they wanted. Like Itachi. Like Sasori. And sometimes, like Deidara. So who was this Tobi fellow who ran around giving people hugs? And furthermore, _how_ in the world did he become part of the Akatsuki? Sakura mentally shrugged and decided she'd rather not know as she patted down the last corner of the bed sheet. She heaved a sigh and collapsed onto the clean sheets. Thankful that they were no longer the horrid excuses for bed linen that they had been before.

"Deidara…here's your cloak. I'm going to sleep and I'm still going back to Konoha tomorrow. Now fix your own bed and do something about Tobi." Abruptly, whatever argument the two Akatsuki had been having was halted by the sound of Sakura's voice and the cloak that came flying at Deidara's head. Deidara just barely dodged it and shoved Tobi away from his bed.

"Tobi. You. Sleep. Floor." Deidara pointed each of the things out separately before getting up and fixing his own bed. He looked at Sakura and found that she had already snuggled under the covers and had her back towards them. Her breathing had slowed down. The day had been far too long and draining for her. Not physically, but mentally. She started the day with healing some people at another village, ran into Deidara on the way back to Konoha, fought him and won, and somehow, was now fast asleep with her back turned on a pair of S-class criminals without another care in the world. Inner Sakura had long been knocked out a while ago and Sakura herself was fading fast from the tiring day.

"But Tobi is scared of monsters, Sempai. Tobi doesn't want to sleep on the floor." Tobi whimpered while standing in the middle of the room. Deidara looked at his partner and thought about it. He didn't feel like getting into another argument with Tobi. It would probably wake up Sakura. He was also too tired from the day. His fight with her combined with the flight here had been more draining on him then on her.

"Fine, Tobi. Why don't you look out for monsters and let us sleep if you don't want to. Wake me up if you see anything fishy, yeah?"

"Fishy like Kisame-San?" 

Deidara groaned.

"No, un. Like somebody sneaky." 

"Oh. Ok. But when will Tobi sleep?"

"Do you even need sleep, un?" Deidara asked wearily as he sat on the bed and took off his shoes.

"Yes. Sleep is good for Tobi. And Tobi is very tired from following Deidara Sempai on his bird all day."

"You followed us while we were flying?" Deidara queried, slightly incredulous but too tired to show it. Tobi nodded vehemently.

"Tobi is a good boy! Tobi had to run very, very fast, but Tobi did it! Tobi didn't loose Sempai!"

"Fine, un. Wake me up in a few hours, I'll take the next watch so you can get some sleep." Deidara grimaced. He hated being nice to Tobi, but he had to give in. The kid had followed his bird on foot and he knew from experience (that he'd rather not think about) how much that took out of a person.

* * *

**yeahhh short chapter, but I wanted to update. And this story just seems so weird to me now...-sigh- I don't know what's going to happen next.**

**Leave a review please :D**


	7. Chapter 7

Tobi and Deidara had switched places sometime during the night and the process had gone surprisingly smooth. At first light, Deidara prodded Tobi awake and sent him to get breakfast.

As soon as Tobi left, Deidara sat down on the bed with a sigh. Leaning with his elbows on his knees, he watched Sakura as she began to stir awake.

Sakura gave a soft groan and flipped over to her side facing Deidara. She then slowly opened her eyes just enough so that she could make whoever it was whose presence she felt in front of her. Seeing Deidara, she quickly squeezed her eyes shut harder then necessary.

_It's only a dream It's only a dream when you wake up, there will be no Akatsuki in the same room as you. There will be no hot blond guy staring at you. When you go to Konoha, there'll only be one blonde and he'll have short hair and whiskers and then you'll go eat ramen with him because this is only a dream. It's only a dream…_

Sakura opened her again and frowned.

"You're still here."

Deidara took her statement as a question so he simply shrugged,

"I'll always be here, un."

Sakura sighed and flipped to lie on her back so she could stare at the ceiling.

"I thought it was only a dream."

"Pfft, this is too good to be dream, yeah."

Sakura turned and saw that he was smirking. Within a second, a pillow flew out of nowhere and nailed Deidara head-on. When he finally recovered and straightened himself up,

"What was that for, un?"

"I never asked for this." She said without looking at him as she sat on the bed, hugging her knees and looking glum. "I never asked to be your 'muse'…I never…I never imagined that you, a member of Akatsuki, would end up following me instead of Naruto or even somebody else…Why are you even here?"

Deidara frowned,

"I thought I already told you why?"

"Well…tell me, again."

"Because you're my muse, yeah, and…and I love you."

Sakura remained silent for a few moments and Deidara thought that she had been sated with that answer alone. So he got up and sat next to her, settling an arm around her shoulder. Then, out of nowhere, her voice squeaked out,

"What if you're wrong? What if you're making a big mistake?"

Deidara frowned.

"I'm not, un." He bent forward to nuzzle his nose into her cheek. She pushed his face away.

"No. Stop, Deidara. What if I don't feel the same way? You'll hurt yourself." He pushed her hand out of the way and continued.

"I get hurt all the time. I'm a ninja, yeah."

"This is a mistake." Sakura backed away from him and he finally stopped.

"So what? It's only human to make mistakes, un. Besides, I don't care. Do you have any idea what kind of mistake I'm really making right now?"

"No…what?"

"I'm not giving a damn about Akatsuki, only you. Itachi can freakin' kiss my ass and even _that_ won't make me do anything for them anymore."

Sakura's eyes widened as she thought this over. Was he really going against orders? Against the organization which thrived off of tormenting people?

To Sakura, loyalty was a very important thing and she couldn't even fathom the idea of abandoning Konoha. Sure, she hated killing, but if the Hokage told her that she had to, then she did it. She was a kunoichi, and as such, it was her duty. But she also knew that if ninja ever abandoned their villages, they were hunted down and killed mercilessly. And in reality, that philosophy went for any organization. Especially Akatsuki. They had too many secrets to let anyone get away from them alive.

She looked at Deidara in a new light. He was willing to spend his days running from Akatsuki wrath? He was already labeled a missing nin, so the only place he had to go to right now was the organization comprised of other missing nin. They were the only ones that accepted him. She felt more worry for him then she did for herself, and she had no idea why.

But she reigned her thoughts in as they happily floated closer and closer to the idea of having Deidara around. Inner Sakura must have been waving her whip in that direction, but Sakura knew that this wasn't a good idea. She was in no way to be associated with a missing nin such as Deidara. Not only was she not killing him, but everyone knew that he was from Akatsuki. That would most definitely make her look like a traitor to Konoha and all its allies.

And speaking of Akatsuki again, if they found out that Deidara had no intention of following their rules, they would most likely come to kill him. In fact, they could already know and be on their merry little way towards her and Deidara.

Sakura could just imagine the look of shock on the Hokage's face upon reading the next message scroll: _Haruno Sakura, found dead at Inter-Akatsuki battle scene on her way back from mission. Two Akatsuki killed with her._

"…but what if I get hurt?" Sakura said, not because she was scared, but because that was the last reason she could think of that might keep things from getting out of hand. She was playing on the fact that Deidara most likely didn't want her to die, and it was a gamble she was sure she could win. Deidara grinned in response and whispered,

"I'll never let that happen, un."

She turned around to meet his eyes but, before she could respond, Tobi came in with a breakfast tray. Immediately, Deidara and Sakura put a good distance between themselves and acted like they weren't just talking.

"Look what Tobi brought for Pretty Girl! Tobi is a good boy!"

"Tobi, stop running with the food, yeah! You'll drop it!"

"Oh, don't worry Sempai, Tobi got Sempai breakfast, too."

"Yeah, yeah…just put it on the table, un."

As the three took seats for breakfast, Deidara took one next to Sakura and Tobi sat across from her.

"Wow, this stuff looks great, Tobi! You are a good boy!" Sakura exclaimed as she looked at the all the steaming breakfast foods.

"Yay! Tobi is very happy. Does Sempai think Tobi is a good boy?" Tobi clapped his hands together.

"Yeah, Sempai, what do you think?" Sakura elbowed Deidara playfully as she bit down into a stuffed bun.

"Tobi, un, are you sure that nobody saw you?"

"Of course, Sempai! Only Zetsu-San is faster then Tobi!"

"…alright, but we better leave from here soon, yeah, somebody's bound to come after us if that bastard from last night said anything." Deidara reached over to begin stuffing himself.

"Where are we going, Sempai?"

"To Konoha." Sakura answered before Deidara could.

"…uh, yeah, Konoha…" Deidara said as he passed Sakura a warning glance.

"Really? Why are we going there? Ooh! Is it time to catch the Nine Tails now? Tobi is so excited! Tobi will finally get to meet him and-" Tobi was almost trembling with excitement.

"Tobi! No! We're not going to catch the Fox, yet. We're going to escort Sakura back, yeah."

"…'Sakura'? Oh, you mean Pretty Girl?" Tobi pointed at Sakura before he grabbed one her hands in both of his and leaned close to her from across the table.

"Can Tobi keep calling you 'Pretty Girl', Sakura-San? Because Sakura-San is sooo pretty?" Considering that Tobi's voice had completely changed from his childish tone to something a lot older, and that Sakura was not used to taking compliments, she blushed.

**Ok….this is weird, a lollipop is flirting with me…**

_And his voice is totally different… creeeepy_

**And why is he rubbing my hand like that?!**

"uh…just 'Sakura' is fine." Of course, Deidara watched this entire scene a little curiously since this was the first time Tobi had stopped talking like a five year old or expressed interest in a girl. But he didn't think anything was too serious since he knew Tobi, and if Tobi was flirting with his girl, then it's the same as letting a five year old flirt with his girl. No harm done, right? That is until….

"Tobi you idiot! You were trying to rub Sakura's leg weren't you?!" Deidara delivered a swift kick under the table at Tobi's leg and Tobi yelped in pain. No five year olds do that when innocently flirting, now do they?

"But Tobi didn't know what he was doing! Tobi's leg is not being good!" The childish whining tone was back and Sakura looked uncomfortably at the masked man clutching his leg on the floor.

"You got that right. If I catch your leg or any part of you 'not being good' again, it won't be there for much longer, un." Deidara scowled at his partner.

"Okay! Okay! Tobi is very sorry, Sempai! Tobi didn't mean to rub Sempai's leg, Tobi though it was Sakura-San's leg." Tobi whimpered as Deidara's scowl turned into a glare.

**Wow, what a pervert.**

_I thought he was a 'Good boy'. Hah._

"Sakura, hurry up and finish eating, yeah. We have to go, and don't worry, Tobi won't do that again." Deidara told her as he sat back down next to her.

"Yes! Yes! Tobi is a good boy, Sakura-San." Tobi got up and was about to take his own seat but Deidara stopped him.

"No, you're not sitting near Sakura again. Go Stand by the door, un."

Sakura finished her breakfast in silence and thought about what Deidara had said earlier about 'escorting' her. She imagined walking through the gates of Konoha with two Akatsuki walking on either side, all three of them standing proud and strutting through after telling the guards that they were her 'escorts'. Sakura immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter and a chunk of food flew out of her mouth.

Of course Deidara had no idea what she had just visualized, so he was reasonably concerned about her spontaneous laughing fit.

"uh…what is it, un? You okay?" He reached a hand forward to try and help her sit up straight again, but she waved it away.

"Sakura-San is laughing? Sakura-San is happy!?" Tobi inquired from his post by the door.

"I'm fine, don't worry." She said a little breathlessly.

"Then what was that just now?"

"It's just, it's just…you know…" She giggled.

"What?" Deidara was starting to get really worried.

"You. Him, Akatsuki, 'escorting' me! To Konoha!" She pulled her self closer to him and laughed into his shoulder like a giddy child. That's when it finally clicked in his mind at how ridiculous that plan looked. He grinned. He had only made that up for Tobi and it seemed like a logical reason for them to go to Konoha with Sakura at the time, especially since he wasn't planning to officially 'escort' her, but now that he thought about, the hypothetical image was ludicrous.

"What are you guys going to do when we get there?" Sakura asked as she lifted her face from his shoulder.

"I don't know, but we'll think about that when we get closer to Konoha, un." He fingered the fabric of her shirt,

"For now, we need to find you something better to wear, un. You'll get cold again."

"It only gets cold at night, the blankets at the inns are enough." Sakura straightened herself and stood up and walked over to her night stand. Deidara watched her as she re-outfitted herself with all of her weapons. Ideally, that should have been the first thing for her to do after waking up, but he supposed it was okay since he was there to protect her anyway.

He watched mesmerized, as she swung her leg up onto the edge of the bed to strap on her kunai holster and carefully put all the poison senbon back in place. The smooth expanse of skin caused him to form a light sweat so that he had to swallow and look away. He was positive that it wasn't just her hair that caught everyone's attention.

--

When they finally left the inn, Deidara and Tobi both had inverted their cloaks. They strolled to the small square in the center of the town on Deidara's orders.

"But we'll waste time, Deidara, we have to leave as soon as possible!" Sakura complained as she slumped against the wall of a small store. She was in no mood for shopping, and had no idea why Deidara, of all people, was.

"Don't worry, un. Look, I got us here before dark last night, right? I'll get us to Konoha on time, too." He said as he peeked into the store's windows. "Look, this one seems good, let's go."

"Can Tobi have a lollipop?" Tobi tugged on Deidara's sleeve as Deidara walked into the store and Sakura was obliged to follow.

"You already look like one….Deidara, this isn't good, you'll both be recognized by the townspeople." Sakura grumbled as she came to stand next to Deidara who stood in front of a rack of clothes.

"Relax Sakura. Tobi has a special genjutsu that makes us look different to other people." He picked a pair of pants from the rack.

"Oh really? It must be so powerful that I can't even sense it." She bit out sarcastically with her arms crossed.

"It is." He answered her distractedly before holding the pair of pants up for her. "Here, try these on."

"What?!" She took a step back as if he'd just burned her or suggested something completely heinous.

"I'm serious, you should wear pants, un."

"Deidara, this is fire country, do you have any idea how hot it gets?" She looked at him appalled. First, because he was a guy trying to get her to try on clothes, and second because he was making no sense whatsoever.

"…but I don't want you to get sunburned, yeah…" He said lamely but with a pleading look in his eyes. The real reason he wanted her to wear pants was because she probably made it really hot for other guys, but he couldn't tell her that.

"Deidara, I'm a medic, I can easily treat any of my own injuries."

"Please Sakura, just put them on, yeah?" He said softly as he placed the pants in her hands. Sakura looked down at the pants and then at his face. With a huff, she made her way to the changing room. A moment later she walked out with a scowl on her face,

"It looks like I'm wearing a bag!"

Deidara grinned, "Yeah, but you make that bag look good."

Sakura was standing in front of a mirror surveying her backside when she turned to give Deidara a glare, unfortunately for her, the effect was lost since she was blushing. Again.

_Gah! He's always saying these stupid things! And I know they're stupid. But why do I keep blushing?!_

**Maybe because you like it….**

_No! I hate it!_

**Denial…**

_And why does he want me to wear this, for God's sake? It's hideous!_

**Actually….it's not that bad….look**

_No! It looks…it looks…the color isn't right!_

**He is an artist dear, he's got an eye for design. Don't deny it.**

Deidara chuckled lightly as Sakura spent a little too long in front of the mirror.

"Right then, we're getting that for you, hey Tobi!"

"Yes Sempai?" Tobi popped out from between the two nearby racks.

"Grab some food for the trip and wait outside while we pay for this, un."

"What?! Do I not get any say in this?!" Sakura yelped, indignant as she clutched the fabric on her pants for emphasis.

"Well…you can pick a different color, but that one tones down your hair pretty well, yeah." He said with a straight face, not there was anything funny about the situation.

"Deidara…what are you planning to do?" Sakura sighed and rubbed her brow as she finally caught on to the situation.

"When you were talking about being 'escorted' and stuff this morning… it got me thinking, that it would look really weird and stuff if people saw you traveling with two strangers in black cloaks…and you're recognized really easily, so we're all going to try to blend in and look like regular travelers….just to be safe."

"Yeah, but…isn't this a little overboard?" Sakura said as she began to unbutton the pants and roll them down. Deidara had no idea what she was doing, and right in the middle of the store, too! Oh crap, now he was staring at her. He diverted his eyes back to her face and answered a little shakily.

"Everyone knows you're a Konoha kunoichi and they'll see you traveling with us and think it's weird. D-Didn't you say you didn't want anyone to know who we are?" He watched as Sakura looked down to pull down her zipper and begin pulling her pants down, he finally couldn't handle it anymore and before she could answer his question,

"Sakura! What are you doing, yeah?"

"huh? I'm just taking these off….relax, I'm wearing my short under them." She saw that Deidara was standing with his cloak spread open around her to block her off from other's view. He looked kind of ridiculous, like some superhero. Unfortunately, people would clearly be able to see the Akatsuki clouds if they happened to walk by. But to his dismay, Tobi ran in with his bag of food.

"Oh! Is Sempai playing a game?! Tobi wants to play too! Tobi too!" A vein throbbed on Deidara's forehead as he whirled around with his cloak billowing about him.

"No, Tobi! I told you wait outside, yeah!"

"But Tobi only came in because he wanted to tell you something! Something importaaant…"

"Tobi, how important can it be if you can't wait a minute outside?"

"Tobi saw some ninjas from Konoha."

"You what?!" Deidara nearly shouted at the same time as Sakura said "Konoha? Really?"

By now, Sakura had taken the pants off and held them in her arms and Deidara had fixed his cloak.

"I should go meet them and find out what's going on." Sakura was about to leave their corner in the store but Deidara grabbed her arm.

"No! They can't know that we're traveling with you, un. And they might be able to recognize us."

"I thought you said Tobi did a genjutsu?"

"I lied. Tobi, are they outside in the front of the store?"

"Yup!" Tobi nodded happily.

"What?! I knew it!" Sakura pointed her finger at Deidara, but he grabbed the pointing hand and pulled her towards another rack. She didn't even bother trying to meet the her fellow Konoha ninja, knowing resistance to Deidara at this point would be futile.

"Ok then, we'll pay for this and grab some other stuff then leave from the back, yeah."

Deidara quickly grabbed a few more items of clothing and paid for them at the register, before coming back to wear Tobi and Sakura stood. Tossing them their garments, he told them to put them on as he went to change as well.

"I look like a civilian. And why the hat?" Sakura asked as she walked out to meet them in her new wardrobe.

"Pink hair, yeah. Nobody else has pink hair." Deidara said as he straightened out his own, dull civilian pants and shirt. He had stuffed his cloak and clothes into the pack on his back.

"Tobi thinks Sakura-San looks nice." Tobi pointed out as he picked at his shirt collar. His orange mask was still in place.

"Shut up, un." Deidara cast an annoyed glance at his partner.

"Tobi, what about your mask? It's a little more noticeable then my hair…." Sakura asked as she straightened the wide brimmed hat on her head.

"It's really weird, but nobody ever notices Tobi's mask. It's like they just don't see it or think it's abnormal, un….so it shouldn't be a problem. Ok then, lets go, yeah."

"Really?" Sakura inquired as they exited through the store's service entrance together.

"Yeah, I mean just look. He should stick out like a sore thumb but nobody even spares him a second glance." Deidara pointed out at the nearby people as an example.

"Wow."

"Tobi is a good boy!"

And just like that, the unlikely trio avoided the other ninja and was well into the direction of Konoha. Unfortunately, as mock-civilians they couldn't use they chakra to travel, so they all had to walk on foot down the well trodden path.

"At this rate, it's going to take days! Thanks a lot for making us civilians, Deidara." Sakura said bitterly as she stomped ahead.

"I didn't think there'd be other shinobi around, un." He said tiredly.

"Sempai…when…will we take a break?" Tobi asked breathlessly from the back.

"How about now, 'Sempai'?" Sakura stopped in the middle of the road and walked to the clearing on the side.

* * *

**Lol...yeah, new chapter in a long time...more of a practice run for the next MC chappie**

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	8. Chapter 8

**WOW, I haven't updated this story in so long OO**

**it was only because I was out of ideas until recently, when I finished reading Breaking Dawn. I'm usually more idea-full after reading some sort of long, drawn out piece of literature (however good or bad). You might notice my writing style changes a lot during this chapter, but honestly, I'm a bad writer, I'm too lazy to keep it consistent.**

I don't own these characters. I hear an owl outside my window.

* * *

And just like that, the unlikely trio avoided the other ninja and was well into the direction of Konoha

And just like that, the unlikely trio avoided the other ninja and was well into the direction of Konoha. Unfortunately, as mock-civilians they couldn't use their chakra to travel, so they all had to walk on foot down the well trodden path.

"At this rate, it's going to take days! Thanks a lot for making us civilians, Deidara." Sakura said bitterly as she stomped ahead.

"I didn't think there'd be other shinobi around, un." He said tiredly.

"Sempai…when…will… we take a break?" Tobi asked breathlessly from the back.

"How about now, 'Sempai'?" Sakura stopped in the middle of the road and walked to the clearing on the side. There was no question about it. They were going to stop.

--

Sakura sighed to herself as she stared at her half-burnt dinner, courtesy of Deidara. His cooking skills simply reflected the pyro in him. She supposed he really, really liked to blow stuff up. Tobi sat in front of their small fire cooking fire, poking it with a stick every few minutes, and waving it around in a panic whenever it caught a flame.

"Sempai…Can Tobi have some marshmallows?"

"Tobi, we don't have any marshmallows, yeah." Deidara sulked as he sat next to Sakura and stared at his own dinner.

"Can we get some marshmallows for next time?"

"There won't be a next time! We're not going to travel as civilians ever again, un!" Deidara was tired of traveling on foot, he was hungry, and now, he had been listening to Tobi talk about roasting one thing or another for the last half hour. Deidara was on the verge of taking Tobi's stick and shoving it somewhere to make him shut up.

"Deidara, you suck at cooking. I told you to let me do it." Sakura lifted her fork before her to examine the piece of well-done _something_. Deidara sighed,

"We're your _escorts_ Sakura, we're not going to let you get your hands dirty, un."

**What?!**

_Did he just say…_

Sakura slammed her plate down and stood up at the indignity.

"I'm not some damned princess who needs to be pampered! I'm a kunoichi! It's my job to get down and dirty!" Tobi who sat at a distance, began to choke on something he was swallowing, while Deidara nearly did the same. His cheeks tinted at the unwittingly said innuendo before he realized that she was being very loud. A little too loud for a group of shinobi under cover.

"Shh! Look! I told Tobi that we'd escort you, so you're going to be 'escorted'. Now sit down before you attract attention to us, yeah." Sakura's eyed widened as she immediately cast a glance at her surroundings before sitting down and whispering harshly.

"Aaaagh! I can't believe I'm listening to you!"

"That's because you know I'm right, un."

"Shut. Up." There was no way Sakura would give a chance Deidara to feel so smug about something that was entirely his fault. It seemed like forever, but it was only a few short seconds later that Sakura and Deidara finally noticed Tobi's strange strangled noises and rushed over to the masked man to see him writhing on the ground.

Sakura immediately switched to medic mode while Deidara watched from the side. So, Tobi was choking, huh? He had an inkling of what might have caused Tobi to collapse on himself, since he very nearly had done the same thing as well, just a minute ago. He really shouldn't be like that. He wondered what would happen if he told Sakura the cause of Tobi's choking….actually, maybe it'd be in his _own_ best interests not to.

Even though Sakura was administering the aid, she had not yet lifted the orange-swirled mask covering Tobi's face. She had simply checked all of his vitals and came to the conclusion that there was really nothing wrong with him physically. Even when she hefted him over and patted his back very hard, he continued to hack.

Sakura furrowed her brow.

"Deidara! I don't know what's wrong with him! That should have fixed everything!"

Deidara eyed Tobi silently and then at Sakura who was getting increasingly closer to him.

"Uh…Sakura…maybe you should give him a chance…to clear it himself, yeah…"

"No! You don't understand! He shouldn't be doing this! He's a healthy young man, right? All the signs point to a heart problem!" At that, Deidara's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. Heart problem? But didn't only …_old _people get those? Well they were all shinobis so Deidara shrugged the thought away. Anything was possible. Sakura babbled on fervently about heart problems as she finally decided to stick her fingers under Tobi's mask and began to lift it up. Deidara just digested the information and was about to say something but Tobi began shouting.

"No! No! Ms. Sakura! Tobi is a good boy! Don't see Tobi's face!" Tobi tugged on his mask and held it in place as Sakura and Deidara both looked at him wide-eyed and open-jawed. Shock clearly showed on their features.

**What. Just. Happened?**

_Is he seriously okay?_

**He just had a heart attack!**

_…did trying to take his mask off scare his heart attack away?_

Sakura just gave Tobi a crooked smile full of relief and perplexity. She looked at Deidara and he seemed to have the same look on his face…except instead of smiling, his mouth still hung open slightly.

Tobi then jumped into an upright position and pulled Sakura into a surprise embrace and rubbed his cheek against whatever was in front of him.

"You saved Tobi again Sakura-san! Sakura-san is Tobi's heeeerooo!" He purred. Sakura felt very, very uncomfortable in his tight hold, especially since he had pinned her arms to her sides, she actually had to use a bit of chakra to push him off as gently as she could.

"It-It was nothing…Tobi…no really…I didn't do anything…heheh", even though he got pushed back, Tobi latched onto her once more, but this time, his hold was stronger.

"No, No, Sakura-san, you saved Tobi's life! Tobi is forever indebted to you! Tobi wants to make it up to you!" Sakura's eyes widened as she felt Tobi start to snuggle into her neck. She began pooling chakra into her arms and was about to throttle Tobi but Deidara shouted a split second before her as he charge into Tobi, knocking him away from Sakura.

"Tobi, that's enough you bastard! Get your hands off of her!"

"B-But Sempai! Tobi didn't do anything wrong!" Tobi stuttered as he struggled under Diedara's body. Deidara was seeing far too much red to calmly explain to Tobi just _what_ exactly he was doing _wrong_. Instead, he shoved Tobi further away from Sakura as he got off of him and spoke through gritted teeth,

"Just stay away from her or there'll be one less Akatsuki in the world, un. And it definitely won't be me."

Sakura stared shocked at the two Akatsuki, straining to understand what had just happened.

_Weren't they partners?_

**I can't believe Tobi did **_**that**_**.**

_Deidara would have killed him? Seriously?_

**Well duh, he was hitting on you.**

_True…_

She slowly crawled away from the small tussle and nearer to the fire. Deidara had been acting stranger then normal with his unwanted over-protectiveness and jealous-boyfriend issues, but Tobi was being just plain freaky.

He was being too touchy-feely and innocent. But at the same time, just the way he said some things made her backtrack. She wasn't even sure if he knew he was doing this or if it was just an accident. All she knew is that it was hard to tell what his true feelings were with that mask on his face.

And now there was an even greater mystery: Why did Tobi go spastic when she was about to remove his mask? What was he hiding under there that he cared about so much that it would scare him out of a heart attack?

**Well…whatever it is, I don't want to know.**

_Right._

Tobi was a strange creature. One that Sakura had no intention of understanding anymore then necessary. She had her own things to worry about, like when were they going to get to Konoha, and more importantly, what were they going to do once they got there?

--

Deidara had decided that the best course of action was to incapacitate Tobi. There was no way that Deidara would be able to get a peaceful sleep if he had to be alert about Tobi and his advances on Sakura the whole night, so he made Tobi sit about ten yards away from where he would be sleeping, and then put up a parameter of tiny, exploding spiders all around him, so that as soon as Tobi moved, he'd know right away.

"Deidara…is this a good idea? What if the explosions attract other shinobi here?" Sakura chewed on her lip as she watched Deidara make more spiders and send them away. Deidara just huffed.

"Of course it is, un. Tobi's not stupid enough to get himself blown up." Deidara stopped a second to rethink what he'd just said as he watched Tobi draw in the dirt with a stick. "At least…I don't think he is that stupid."

Sakura gave him a look full of skepticism as she pulled her pack beneath her head and made herself comfortable for the night. A moment later Deidara mimicked her.

--

The next day, Sakura and Deidara awoke at dawn to find a certain member of their group to be missing.

Deidara let loose a string of curses.

"Deidara, if you're thinking about hunting him down, there's no way we'll find him." Sakura said, secretly glad that Tobi was gone.

"Yeah, I know that. I'm just worried about when he'll find us, un."

Sakura's secret glee disappeared.

"What do you mean, 'when he'll find us'?"

Deidara hurriedly kicked dirt over the smoldering remains of their fire.

"I mean that there's no telling with that kid. Just like he found us last time, he can find us again, un. And now that he knows where we're headed, it's even more dangerous."

"What could he possibly do? He seems harmless." Sakura countered as she pulled her pack on, trying not to remember the way Tobi latched on to her before Deidara knocked him down.

"Honestly, he's been my partner ever since he joined Akatsuki and even I don't know what he can do. But I know that he's got a big mouth, yeah, and there's a good chance that he'll tell on me and say something about you."

"…oh." Sakura stopped short. That meant that Tobi could tell on them and then the rest of the Akatsuki would come after them. "Then we've got to hurry and keep going. We'll get to Konoha by this time tomorrow morning."

Sakura stepped back onto the dirt road and began following it with Deidara right behind her, except he was frowning. Sakura glanced at him.

"What is it?"

"Well….just how am I going to get into Konoha with you? I know you don't want to be associated with me, un, so there's no way I can walk you through the gate."

"…I guess….I don't know…we'll see when we get there. The security clearance is different for different types of people. If you try to lie your way in and get caught, they'll be on the look out for you." Sakura scratched her chin thoughtfully as she visualized the gate.

"But what if I _don't_ get caught, hm? That would be the easiest way." Deidara glanced at Sakura to emphasize his point but Sakura was too busy staring at the ground before her, looking lost in her own thoughts as her brain calculated the outcomes of different scenarios.

"That's true. It's the easiest. But it requires props. You'd need a disguise and you'd need official papers. I could probably walk you in with me at that point." She stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"But there's the problem. There's no way we'd be able to find you papers and you face is plastered in every Bingo Book there is."

"Sakura," Deidara grinned mischievously, "You're talking to an Akatsuki. I know the best places to find illegal documents and counterfeit papers, yeah."

Sakura stared at him unmoved.

"And? What about this?" She tugged on the hair that covered half his face. Deidara's grin faded.

"What about it, un?""

"I'm saying that your hair style stands out as much as my hair _color_. If they stop and stare for just a second, they'll recognize you."

_He's going to kill you for this, you know._

**I know. But he did make me change my outfit for no reason. He's gotta loose some thing, too.**

Deidara's face froze for a second before it turned serious.

"…Sakura…"

"Yes?" She answered sweetly.

"Are you suggesting that I _cut_ my hair, hm?"

_Yes. Yes I am._

**CHOP IT ALL!**

_I want to his face, un-obscured by all his hair._

"Not at all, Deidara, I'm saying that you'll have to change your hair style."

"I can't do that, Sakura."

"Why ever not, Deidara?"

Deidara looked at her critically then for it was quite hard for him to feel irritated by her for too long, considering that she was his muse and all. And oh yeah, he seemed to love her. It was difficult for him to show her his 'mean' face. Even when he was her enemy two days ago, he had never shown her his 'mean' face, only his 'I'm-annoyed-by-you-just-die-already' face and that was only during the thickest of their last battle.

"Because, un. It's my _hair_. I wear it like this for a reason."

Sakura rolled her eyes at his childishness.

"And what reason is that? Fashion statement of the century?"

Deidara couldn't help it, he rose to that.

"NO! It's part of my jutsu arsenal, yeah. Why would shinobi care about fashion?! Let alone S-class criminals like me, un?"

The way he said that made Sakura start giggling. She imagined tendrils of his hair warping around, attacking his enemies, and Deidara, standing triumphant atop his clay bird.

"Your hair helps you fight? Like this?" She grabbed ends of his hair in both hands and waved it around. He looked at her bemused as he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for her to leave his hair alone. Once she was done amusing herself, he pulled back the curtain of hair that covered the left side of his face and pointed at his eye.

"It's because of this, un! Not because of some crazy hair super powers!"

Sakura sobered up and looked at him with skepticism one again.

"Your eye? What's so special about your eye?" Deidara let his hair flop back over his eye and looked at her smugly.

"That's a secret, un. All I can say is that I've been training to make this eye stronger then the other one. I have to keep it covered because of that."

Sakura sighed.

_There has to be a way around this._

**He has to cut his hair. I wanna see that pretty face of his.**

_Reason with him._

"What's the use of getting false papers, if you keep your hair like that, everyone will recognize you."

"I'll wear a hat, un." Deidara replied.

"They'll make you take it off for identification."

"Then what do you think I should do?! Cut it?" Deidara nearly yelled. Even saying those words left a bad taste in his mouth. It would be an abomination if he cut it. He looked towards Sakura but she walked on ahead silently, not bothering with an answer.

Deidara growled under his breath. He hated the idea of being so pacifist. It was so annoying that he couldn't just blow a hole through the gate and walk in. If he wanted to go somewhere, he'd go. Sneaking around like this, dealing carefully with other people, it just didn't suit him and his volatile personality.

But then he looked at Sakura walking ahead of him in the ugly, bag-like pants he made her wear. Her figure swaying slightly with each step she took. Her pink hair bouncing around behind her. She stopped and turned her head to him for a second to see if he was still there. He caught a hint of a smile on her face before she turned back and continued.

He sighed and rubbed his temples. She'd made him change nearly his entire personality and he didn't even realize it, but honestly, he couldn't help it. He wanted to be with her. Actually, no. _Wanting_ was putting it lightly. He _needed_ to be with her. It was hard to describe but he felt like she was the missing piece in his life. He had his art and his shinobi skill, but now, he had something worth living for. He wanted to make her happy. He wanted to see her safe. He was going to see her into Konoha.

"Hey Sakura, un. Stop for a second."

"What is it Deidara?" Sakura turned around and for some reason, she looked a little smug.

"I know somebody who can make me some papers, but he lives 3 days travel that way, yeah." He pointed east of where they were headed. Sakura looked in that direction.

"…3 days east?" She said to herself under her breath, then it dawned on her and her eyes widened into saucers.

"You don't mean…."

Deidara nodded.

"Kumo Port. That's the only place to get fake papers made for guys like me, un."

"But Kumo...it's full of criminals and gamblers and-and perverts!"

_It's not a place for girls._

"Perfect. I'm a criminal, aren't I? And according to all you books, I'm a mighty fine S-class one at that, yeah." Deidara grinned.

Sakura really didn't want to go there. When it really came down to it, she was sure that if he waited outside the gates of Konoha for a few days, she could get him some fake papers from the inside. She wanted to avoid Kumo no matter what. If they got in trouble there, she was sure that they wouldn't make it out alive, even if Deidara _was_ an S-class criminal.

"But isn't it too dangerous?"

Deidara continued grinning and walked over to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close, he said in a low voice,

"So are you, and so am I, yeah."

* * *

**So?? Is it getting good? Don't worry, I haven't kicked Tobi out yet. This was a practice chapter for my humongous AMOS chapter coming up in the next few days.**

**PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW LoL**


	9. Chapter 9

**YAYYYYY! I finally updated! **

**Neonn is going to be mad at me for working on fanfiction! Instead of my novel for nanowrimo! Even though I'm behind my word count by like 10K!**

**But I suddenly got a whole bunch of reviews and felt inspired to finish my chapter-in-waiting at the soonest possible convenience.**

**So enjoy!**

* * *

Sakura stooped to sit on a rock to rest. She looked up at the sun. It was around midday. And ridiculously hot.

_Well, this is 'Fire' country for a reason._

**Buck up, Sakura Haruno! Don't let a little heat get to you!**

_Last time I checked, it was 104 degrees._

**Oh who am I kidding…THIS HEAT IS UNNATURAL!**

"I thought you said three days, Deidara! This IS the third day and we aren't anywhere near Kumo." She was angry but her voice lacked the power to express it. 'Kumo' ended on a sigh as she reached for some water from her pack.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know how long it takes as a civilian, yeah. I just told you the ninja numbers." He was as tired as her. Thank god he didn't have to wear his cloak in this heat since he was pretending to be a civilian. Deidara flopped on his back next to where Sakura sat. There weren't any trees around for miles; the forest had ended on their first day. No shade. No shelter. Just dirt and sun. Searing, sweltering, sun. Deidara felt like he was in the center of one his explosions.

But at least there was grass. Short and stubby it may be, it was still green and soft. He moved his arms up and down against the grass like a child making a snow-angel for a minute. Staring up at the blank sky, he sighed. Feeling another bead of sweat roll down his face, he fought the urge to wipe it off because in touching his face, he would irritate the sunburn. Instead, he reached for Sakura's ankle and tugged on it.

She looked down at him, raising an eyebrow.

_He's been acting strange these last three days._

**It's the heat! I'm telling you, it's the heat!**

_No…I think it's something else._

**What else could it possibly be?! We're both suffering from dehydration!**

_No…we're not dehydrated yet, we've had just barely enough water._

She handed him her canteen. He took it without a word and poured its contents into his mouth. She watched quietly as the last drop of their water vanished.

"That's the last of the water, Deidara."

**You idiot! Why'd you let him finish it all?!**

_Because we're in this stupid thing together. He has to survive._

**It's wayyy tooo hot to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no water and barely any food left. We have to get out of here soon.**

_You're right._

"Really, un?" Deidara sat up slowly. "Then what are we going to do?…Kumo is probably another 3 days away on foot and I didn't see any rivers or streams running nearby." Deidara stopped talking and tore up a fistful of grass and then let the blades rain down in front of him. "Our only chance of making it through is if it rains today, yeah."

_Okay…he's definitely not acting himself._

**He's just tired, like you.**

_No, as far as I know, even if he's tired…he doesn't resort to …Tobi-like behavior._

**His one cheek is sunburned again, better fix it.**

Sakura knelt down next to him and stared up at the sky.

"There isn't a single cloud in the sky. The chance of rain is far too low to even think about. Your face is burned again."

Deidara sighed in dismay and dropped back down from his upright position so that Sakura could bend over him and heal his face for the third time that day. Even though getting sunburned was painful and annoying, he didn't mind it too much since there was something that he liked about it very much. The fact that Sakura got so impossibly close to him that it was nearly unbearable to not …there she was. He stared up at her as she held a cooling green hand his cheek. Her face was smudged with sweat and dirt. He viridian eyes focused, intensely concentrating on the task at hand. And her lips were slightly parted and even though it was hot, the small, steady warm breaths seemed cool to Deidara. He was barely breathing, not wanting to shift and cause her to lose her concentration. If she did, then she'd look at him and all the serenity of calm of the moment would be lost and Deidara did not want that at all. If anything, he wanted it to last, maybe long enough so that he could recreate it. No. What was he thinking? He must really be going delusional. He couldn't create something so perfect. No artist could. The only thing he could do was to just enjoy it while it lasted. Maybe embrace it.

Yeah, embrace it. Hold it close.

"Deidara! What are you doing?" Sakura's muffled voice came from where her face was squashed into Deidara's collarbone.

"Mmmp" Good things only lasted forever in dreams. Especially if they were those day dreams of delirium. Deidara loosened his one-armed embrace just enough that Sakura was able to wriggle into a more breathable position, but not enough to allow her to get up.

"Let go of me right now! And you get up too!" Deidara lifted his head to come face to face with an angrily blushing Sakura. _Yes!_ He thought. Grinning, he let his head fall back.

"No." He figured that if they were just going to die in the heat in the middle of nowhere, it might as well be like this. Especially since Sakura was blushing again. Perfect ending in his opinion.

Sakura struggled unsuccessfully for a few more minutes to get out of his hold before collapsing on him and breathing hard from her efforts. She could have used chakra to escape, but not without hurting him in the process.

"You sound tired, yeah. Here, take a break." Deidara patted her back consolingly. Sakura lifted her head again and glared at him.

"You idiot! It's because of you!" Deidara cracked an eye open and stared at her lazily.

"Hmm? What is, un? Are you out of chakra?"

"NO! It's because you…you….chakra?" Sakura gasped mid-sentence as something dawned on her.

"Deidara!"

"Hm?"

"You still have your chakra, don't you? In fact, you're still full to the brim. You haven't used any in …what? Since we left that last town as civilians?"

"If I die as civilian traveler, I'd never be able to forgive myself, un. But since I'm going to die together with you, it's ok, yeah." Deidara looked at her with a dazed look in his eyes and redness to his cheeks that could be attributed to sunburn or delirium.

"…what? Deidara, you baka, pay attention! You're going crazy from suppressing your chakra this long! Let go of me and go do something!" She tried to push herself up again but he brought his other arm over her this time and wove one hand through her hair, pulling her face closer to his so that his lips were hovering very, very alarmingly close to hers.

"No, un. I don't want to."

"But Deidaraammmn!" Sakura's anger got cut off when his lips locked onto her own in an abruptly soft yet yearning sort of way. It was as if all logic had just dissolved from her mind. Naturally, Sakura and her tomato-colored face responded in kind, it's not like she could move away…. but it's not like she wanted to move away either. This _was_ her first real kiss she should enjoy it while it lasted.

**SCORE!!!!**

_This is…this is…_

**OMG…is that…his…tongue…**

And hence, inner Sakura commenced to melt into a puddle of goo while Sakura herself was at a loss for words. Relying on instinct, she did whatever her body told her. Her hands moved towards his face and his began to slowly slide down.

Things began to move quickly, but as soon as Sakura felt Deidara's hand slide under her shirt and rest on her waist, she panicked.

**OmgOmgOmgwhatdoIdo?!**

_What's going on?! I'm not ready for this! Stop!_

And then Sakura did the only thing she could. She bit down. Hard.

Deidara's eyes jerked wide open as he gasped into Sakura's mouth and jumped up into a sitting position, their hands still tangled onto one another. Sakura pulled away from him shocked, angry, and a little flustered.

This time both of their faces looked like tomatoes or cherries or whatever other red fruits there are. Before Deidara could make eye-contact with her, Sakura looked away and wiped the blood from her lip.

"Y-You…You need to use your chakra right away." She moved off of him.

"What are you talking about, hm?" He asked, examining his own bleeding lip as shifted around to a more alert position on his knees.

"This!" Sakura grabbed his hand and pointed at the mouth in its palm.

"This! Use your chakra now or you'll go crazy from the buildup! Make one of those birds again!" The hand-mouth that she was pointing to wagged a tongue out so she dropped it immediately.

"Again, what are you talking about Sakura? You said I can't or we'll get caught and-"

"It doesn't matter anymore! Just DO IT! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Sakura shrieked loud enough to make Deidara jump back a few inches in fright.

All of a sudden Deidara's chakra-laden stupor vanished and he was wide awake and alert. Honestly, it was more of an adrenaline rush from the 'Flight' response to Sakura's temper, but hey, it did the trick. He quickly began work on a clay bird and in no time at all, another craft was built.

-----------

"How long will it take now?" Sakura stared down at the unchanging, dull green landscape. Deidara adjusted himself around her to better see the horizon. Squinting into the distance with his scope over one eye, he spotted a dark blur.

"About 2 hours, un."

Sighing an 'okay', she leaned back into Deidara and relaxed.

In fact, she relaxed so much that in the next few minutes, she fell asleep. While she was awake and fretting over Deidara's delirium, she didn't realize how exhausted she had become at the end of the burning day.

Her mind shut down and began to wander. She dreamt of the things that had happened to her recently. She dreamt of the people she knew. She dreamt of Deidara just a little. And of course, she dreamt of those happy, hypothetical scenarios that can only happen in dreams which can make people unconsciously mumble nothings or shift around in their beds into another position.

It was when Sakura tried to do just that and nearly fell off the bird until Deidara realized what she was doing and held the sleeping Sakura in place. Of course, he yelled at her worriedly and asked her what she was trying do, but when she moaned and curved her body into his chest, he finally saw that she was sleeping.

That was a shock and a relief at the same time. He hadn't expected her to be asleep, but the sight made him think of one word: Cute. And despite himself, he blushed. He blushed for thinking that way in the first place and he blushed for the position he was in since he had never imagined to have a sleeping girl on him. What a relief that she was asleep and couldn't see anything. At first, he had though that she was trying to jump off to get away from him or something equally heinous because she no longer wanted to be with him. Thank goodness he was proven wrong.

Sakura was still asleep by the time they arrived at the edge of the city of Kumo, and even though they were still miles away from the ocean, they could still smell the brininess of the sea.

He landed the craft softly and had a repeat of their last flying escapade with a few key differences. The first being that Sakura was still asleep. Two, during that sleep, she had shifted into a rather scandalous position while clutching him. Three, she was drooling or at least letting a thin stream of spittle leak out of the corner of her mouth and onto his neck. Of course he would never ever tell her about this third difference, but it wasn't so much for her sake as it was for his since that spittle was doing strange things to him and he'd die before he told her what exactly those strange things were.

It was time to get off. Deidara looked around to see if anybody else was watching.

_Good. No one's here._

He then looked down at Sakura. She was still asleep. He sighed.

_Now what?_

He didn't exactly want to wake her. He wasn't sure how she'd react to seeing him first thing upon awakening.

Deidara took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Then grasping the girl securely, he slipped off the bird. Then he stood there, holding the her bridal style and looking around lost. He had absolutely no idea what to do. He couldn't exactly walk into town, especially a town as dirty as Kumo, with a sleeping girl in his arms.

He bit his lower lip thinking about the hypothetical situation. If he walked into town like that, he would likely be surrounded by a bunch of perverted, scumbags. They'd swarm around him asking about her and saying rude, unforgivable things. Then he'd of course get mad and kill them all, but then more would show up to replace them. People like that were like cockroaches! He'd run out of chakra after trying to kill them all and then they'd crawl all over him and get her and Deidara would be forced to watch all this and it'd be all his fault that Sakura would be touched by creatures like that and she'd forever remember him as the guy who couldn't do anything. Then he'd see her getting taken away and he'd go berserk and use his last jutsu and blow the entire city apart. Which in the end wouldn't help anyone. Not even him.

By now, Deidara had gotten so worked up over what _could_ happen that he'd started sweating and was breathing rather heavily for just standing there holding the light frame of the real, not-hypothetical, sleeping Sakura.. He had even ended up clutching his head in hypothetical dismay as the hypothetical cockroach-people of Kumo took the hypothetical-sleeping-Sakura away. Hypothetically speaking of course.

Luckily, Sakura came to right at that moment.

She slowly opened her eyes and groggily looked up to see Deidara looking all worked up about something.

"Deidara?" her voice was still too soft after just waking up so he didn't hear. She cleared her throat.

He still did not notice that she was awake. But he had a strange look on his face so she was worried. She looked to where he was looking straight ahead but there was nothing there.

"Deidara!" She said louder and lightly slapped the side of his face.

"Gah! Huh?....Oh, you're awake?" He looked down at her in relief. Sakura had no idea why he looked so happy to see her.

"Uh…yeah. Are you okay? You look terrible."

"Huh, oh it's nothing, un."

"Ok…you seem fine. So…." She looked at him. He stared back blankly.

"So what, yeah?"

"Are you going to put me down anytime soon? Or were you planning to carry me into Kumo?" At that, Deidara shuddered and quickly let her down.

"Sorry about that, un. Let's go."

"Ok, but what about your bird?" She asked as she patted her clothes back into place. She was still wearing those initially-hideous pants. She had worn them throughout the high heat of the day and they'd kept her pale skin from getting burned. Now, knowing what kind of place she was going into, she was secretly thankful that she had them.

"Never mind the bird. Nobody will notice it around here, un." Deidara walked away from the thing, dismissing it with a wave of his hand before calling back out to her to follow. Sakura didn't.

"But isn't it one of your signature jutsus? Any ninja well-versed in the bingo books would recognize it. Not to mention that we're pretty close to Konoha."

"….fine…" Deidara looked at the bird. Sighed. Then walked all the way back to it before touching it with the palm of one of his hands to dismiss the chakra. Immediately the bird turned into a pile of dirt of the same color.

"There, happy?"

"Yup." Sakura said in an unusually chipper tone before bounding to the road.

Deidara looked at her wearily before running after her.

"Had a nice nap, yeah?"

"Yes. Thanks to you 'Sempai', now hurry up." She grinned back at him.

Deidara ground his teeth and frowned. Now why did she have to call him _that_?

It took the two about twenty minutes before arriving into the city of lights. Nothing was closed even though it was dark. There were no tall buildings, but every single place had some sort of neon light piece. Some blinked 'OPEN' for small restaurants whose aromas filled the streets, while others advertised names of stores, sales or products. Many of the shops advertised adult things from which Sakura looked away disgusted, dragging Deidara quickly away as well. There was even a bookstore specializing in the 'Icha Icha Paradise' series.

Deidara and Sakura walked closely down a crowded street. She didn't realize it but she had her hand poised by his elbow the entire way and every time someone brushed past her, she gripped the fabric of his sleeve. Looking around at some of the scantily clad women who hung around certain stores or around strange men's arms, she was once again thankful that Deidara had foreseen the need for her to cover her skin. Her normal clothes would definitely not have sufficed in a place like this because the men here were like animals. She saw men begin talking to a woman as she bought some vegetables from a stall. She yelled something angrily, slapped the man, and then made her way through the crowd. And she was wearing a plain, modest shirt and a skirt that came to her knees.

"Hey Sakura, un, let's go get something to eat in there. I'm starving." Deidara nudged her toward one of the small restaurants. Its windows were clean of posters and its door was wide open as it let out the mouthwatering smell of fried food. If she tried hard enough, Sakura could even here something delicious sizzling in the pan. The top of the shop was crowned with a billboard showing a steaming bowl full of seafood ramen of monstrous proportions.

"Ok, smells good."

"It should, it's the best place to get something hot and quick. Tastes amazing, too yeah." Deidara puffed out his chest proudly. Sakura laughed and pulled him into the store.

Deidara and Sakura walked in there looking like a regular civilian couple. Deidara hadn't yet put on his cloak and Sakura's headband had been tucked away into one of the various pockets of her pants. In a place like Kumo, Sakura's pink hair didn't stand out one bit. The pair was invisible.

They went over to the bar and placed an order for the house special with the fry cook. He looked like a stern, solid man. He wore a grim look on his face as he nodded.

Sakura wondered if he suspected them for anything. Then she watched as a young man about her age, maybe younger walked in grinning and ordered.

"Old man, gimme one Great Sea of Ramen. I'm starving! I just got off work from the docks." He patted his bulging pocket proudly. Said old man looked at even this happy child grimly and didn't even bother answering in words to show that he had heard the order. He simply nodded. The boy's grin didn't falter as he plopped down right at one of the bar stools.

"I guess he's like that to everyone." Sakura said to Deidara as they sat down at a table in the back.

"Hm? Oh, the old man?" Deidara looked around to where she was indicating.

"Yeah. He seemed kind of scary. Actually, he still does." She frowned. Deidara laughed.

"You've got it wrong, Sakura. It's the nice people you have to look out for in a place like this. He's probably the least scariest anyway, un. At least he's honest. I bet he used to smile when he was younger, but for a good person to live in Kumo….it does things to you. Hardens your heart. Until you're permanently frowning, yeah. Like this." He used both of his hands on either side of his face to make his eyebrows, cheeks, and mouth tilt downward until he looked like he was melting or something. Sakura laughed.

"I guess so." She looked back at the bar. The old man was setting a pair of bowls down in their direction. "Oh, I think he has our food done."

Deidara pulled a couple notes out of his pocket as he got up from the table. He handed the man the bills, then without waiting for his change he grabbed both bowls and maneuvered his way back. The old man looked after him, still frowning and looking grim. Although it probably wasn't because he was bothered as to why Deidara didn't ask for his change back, as much as being worried over Deidara spilling the giant bowls of ramen because of the precarious way he was walking around the chairs and tables.

* * *

**I have to get to work on my novel for NaNoWriMo now, so this is all I'm writing for this chapter, but have no fear, there's more to come!  
**

**If there's any discrepancies in my writing style, it's because I did the first half of this chapter like...2 months ago? and finished the rest today.**

_Also, Lemony Snicket is an awesome person. I met him last weekend as I got my book signed :DDD and we chatted and it was awesome. His personality is exactly like he is in the books but funnier._


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